Mamata Banerjee added another 20 lakh women to the "Lakshmir Bhandar" plan, bringing the total number of women who have benefited from the state government's outreach initiative to 1.71 crore.
“These women had applied through Duare Sarkar camps. It takes some time to process the applications before including the applicants under the scheme. We had promised to launch the scheme before the polls and we kept our promise,” said the chief minister at a programme to handover benefits to new beneficiaries at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
The Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, according to the chief minister, was established to recognise women's contributions to the smooth functioning of households.
Mamata also stated that the state government spent a significant amount of money on social programmes to guarantee that no one was left out of government benefits.
“Our government reaches out to every walk of the society. We reach out to people with old-age pension, widow pension and several other facilities, including assistance to farmers with the Krishak Bandhu scheme and students with Kanyasree,” the chief minister said.
According to government sources, the government's main priority was on running assistance systems smoothly because it ensures cash in the hands of ordinary people, which benefited them during the pandemic.
“The government spends nearly Rs 30,000 crore annually to run the welfare schemes. Now, the primary focus of the government is to run the schemes properly as these help people living in remote areas as well as the poor," said a senior government official.
The chief minister also mentioned the programmes that her government has implemented since taking power in 2011, ranging from providing shoes to schoolchildren to ensuring scholarships for female students through Kanyasree.
“I am proud of what I have done so far,” Mamata said. According to sources in Nabanna, 16.9 lakh people receive old-age pensions and 21 lakh women receive widow pensions these days. In addition, the government provides pensions to 5.5 lakh physically challenged people, as well as over 25 lakh girls enrolled in the Kanyasree scheme.
