3 months ago
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With an oculus connected the upcoming Assembly predetermination successful West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) authorities connected Thursday presented its interim budget, focusing connected women and unemployed youth.
The authorities has hiked the monthly assistance for women nether the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme by ₹500 and introduced a caller scheme, ‘Banglar Yuba Sathi’, to widen unemployment assistance of ₹1,500 to younker successful the 21 to 40 property group.
It besides accrued the salaries of civic and colony constabulary personnel, para teachers, and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and anganwadi workers.
Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya tabled a ₹4.06-lakh-crore interim fund for the fiscal twelvemonth 2026-27. Despite the higher spending, the State has projected that the gross shortage volition constrictive to ₹21,759.34 crore in 2026-27 from the revised ₹41,164.05 crore in the existent fiscal.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told journalists that Lakshmir Bhandar – 1 of the government’s flagship schemes that provides monthly assistance of ₹1,000 and ₹1,200 to women successful the wide and reserved categories respectively – volition payment from further allocation of ₹1,500 crore. Both categories volition get a hike of ₹500.
The authorities volition adhd 20.62 lakh women nether the scheme, which has 2.21 crore members currently, the fund papers stated. The hiked allowance volition beryllium disposable from February, Ms. Banerjee said.
‘Scheme is universal’
The revised allowance comes against the backdrop of the Opposition BJP claiming that it volition supply monthly assistance of ₹3,000 nether the strategy if voted to power. “Our strategy is cosmopolitan [does not exclude beneficiaries] and theirs [BJP] is controversial,” the Chief Minister said.
A full of ₹5,000 crore has been allocated successful this fiscal twelvemonth for the ‘Banglar Yuba Sathi’ scheme, which volition beryllium rolled retired from August 15. This means the strategy volition beryllium implemented lone when, and if, the TMC returns to power.
The interim fund has made further allocation of ₹1,000 crore to summation the salaries of 1.25 lakh civic and colony constabulary unit by ₹1,000. Allocations of ₹100 crore, ₹250 crore, and ₹110 crore have been made to summation the salaries of ASHA workers, anganwadi workers, and para teachers respectively.
Pointing retired that the fig of payment schemes of the West Bengal authorities has crossed 100, the CM emphasised that her authorities is reaching retired to each the sections of nationalist and said that determination is thing for everyone successful the budget. “We committedness lone those things which we tin deliver. It is not similar this is an predetermination twelvemonth and we volition committedness thing which we cannot deliver,” she said.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the promises that the authorities has vowed to instrumentality from April are “nothing but deception”. “After the work of the last elector database [on February 14], the exemplary codification of behaviour (MCC) volition beryllium enforced. Under the MCC, the authorities cannot summation fiscal benefits oregon grow the fig of beneficiaries,” helium said.
