West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced a fresh round of welfare and public-service measures, including the release of the second instalment under the Banglar Bari housing scheme and a plan for the state to receive another 50 lakh houses under the Pashchim Bangla Awas Yojana.
Addressing a government programme in Manikchak on Thursday, Adhikari said the second instalment of Banglar Bari had been released without discrimination between Hindus and Muslims. He also rejected what he described as election-time “propaganda” about the scheme’s implementation.
The announcement did not specify the number of beneficiaries covered by the latest instalment, the amount released, or the construction timeline for the additional houses. The Pashchim Bangla Awas Yojana is intended to expand access to housing, particularly for households that depend on state-supported assistance to build or improve homes.
Adhikari also announced an increase in the food allocation for patients in government hospitals, saying the rate had been raised from Rs 56.40 to Rs 110. He said the earlier rate had remained unchanged since 2017 and that the increase was intended to ensure that poor patients received proper food three times a day.
The chief minister made the hospital announcement while criticising the previous administration and referring to the treatment choices of its leaders. The food-rate revision is expected to affect the provisioning of meals in public hospitals, although the statement did not provide details on when the new rate would take effect or how hospitals would implement it.
The programme also included announcements affecting public employment and social security. Adhikari said government employees, including school teachers, would receive 20 per cent dearness allowance before Puja, by October 16. He cited increases in remuneration for ICDS workers, ASHA workers, civic volunteers, para-teachers, Prani Bandhu and forest guards, and said civil defence personnel would receive employment for at least 20 days.
On police recruitment, Adhikari said 12,000 personnel would be recruited after the government resolved complications related to Other Backward Classes reservations. Appointment letters and uniforms are expected to be handed over at Netaji Indoor Stadium on October 12.
The chief minister urged migrant workers from Malda to obtain Ayushman Bharat cards so that eligible beneficiaries could access treatment outside West Bengal. He said around nine lakh applications had been received from Malda under the Annapurna Yojana, with funds already disbursed to 6.80 lakh beneficiaries and payments for another 1.35 lakh applicants under process.
Adhikari also said Malda was lagging in the Surya Ghar scheme and asked officials to increase both applications and beneficiaries. The district, he said, accounted for 1,563 metric tonnes of raw silk, or 68 per cent of West Bengal’s production, and had potential in food processing, mango, honey and jute-based enterprises.
The announcements place housing delivery, hospital provisioning and access to welfare benefits within the same administrative agenda. The immediate milestones cited by the government are the October 12 distribution of police appointment letters and uniforms and the October 16 deadline for the dearness allowance payment.
