Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Mamata Banerjee Government today moved to cement its appeal among women – who form 48 per cent of the voting population in the State – by doubling the monthly dole from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month for the Lakshmi Bhandar project. According to the Government, 2 crore 11 lakh women are currently receiving financial assistance through related social security schemes. The State Government increased the financial allocation for the Lakshmi Bhandar project in the budget presented in the Assembly on Thursday.
While presenting the budget, Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said: “To strengthen the hands of our mothers and sisters, this Government of Maa, Maati, Maanush is happy to announce that the financial assistance for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme has been increased to Rs 1,200 per month and for others, this support will be increased to Rs 1,000 per month. Also, recipients of Lakshmi Bhandar will automatically come under old-age pension after crossing the age of 60 years.”
Political observers said that the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme had paid rich dividends to the Trinamool Congress in the past elections.
The Lakshmi Bhandar scheme was launched in February ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls. Under this scheme, women in the age group of 25 to 60 years of the State get financial assistance from the State Government. Any female member of the family residing in the State can avail this benefit.
Speaking to reporters after the budget presentation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Government had allocated an additional amount of Rs 1,200 crore for Lakshmi Bhandar and the women would get the increased assistance from April 2024.
Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya also announced a slew of policies for social welfare and employment generation, even as she accused the Centre of imposing a financial blockade on the State.
“The Centre has imposed a financial blockade on West Bengal. But, we will not cow down. The State’s dues from the Central Government is nearly Rs 1.18 lakh crore,” she said
Tabling a budget of Rs 3,66,166 crore, Bhattacharya said the monthly financial assistance under the Lakhsmir Bhandar scheme has been raised to Rs 1,200 for the SC and ST community, whereas for other categories, it has been increased to Rs 1,000.
The minister also announced an additional 4 percent dearness allowance (DA) for State Government employees from May, in addition to the 4 per cent that was declared in January. Bhattacharya said the Mamata Banerjee Government had introduced a “Gender and Child Budget Statement” in this year’s budget.
Trinamool called this announcement of the State Government as “historic”. Party spokesperson and state general secretary Kunal Ghosh wrote on the X handle: “Sincere thanks and congratulations to the Trinamool Congress Government for the historic step of doubling Lakshmi Bhandar.” Along with increasing financial allocation in Lakshmi Bhandar, a project called “Samudra Sathi” has been announced for the fishermen of East Medinipur, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas.