Mamata Banerjee announces financial sops for ration dealers

Sources said the chief minister wanted to bring all the stakeholders on board as she was eager to run the scheme in the state for two reason

Mamata Banerjee during the launch of the Duare Ration scheme on Tuesday.: Telegraph photo

Pranesh Sarkar   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   17.11.21  : Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched Duare Ration (ration on doorsteps) and announced some financial sops for the ration dealers in an attempt to get them on board to implement the scheme properly across Bengal.

“We have decided to give a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh to nearly 21,000 ration dealers to help them buy vehicles which they will require to deliver rations to doorstep.… The ration dealers can recruit two persons at Rs 10,000 a month and the government will bear half the cost. Furthermore, commission for the dealers has been enhanced to Rs 150 a quintal from Rs 75 a quintal,” the chief minister said during the launch of the scheme at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta on Tuesday.

She also relaxed the condition for the scheme marginally by saying the dealers could take their vehicle to a point where beneficiaries could come and collect their rations. “But the distance travelled would not be more than 500 meters,” she said.

The cash incentives and the relaxation in delivery model were announced as a section of dealers has been protesting against the scheme citing practical problems and financial constraints in implementing it properly.

“I had promised before the elections that we would implement it and I would go all the way to deliver on my promise,” said Mamata, before adding that the financial benefits for the ration dealers were worth Rs 2,500 crore.

The chief minister said her government was trying to look into the demands of the ration dealers as this would be a service to common people. “The scheme is a kind of service to common people. I hope the ration dealers would welcome the scheme as the government has come forward for their assistance despite several problems,” said Mamata.

The chief minister, sources said, wanted to bring all the stakeholders on board as she was eager to run the scheme in the state for two reasons.

First, the scheme would connect crores of beneficiaries in rural areas directly to the government as they don’t have to travel long distances to collect their foodgrains.

Second, this would make the state the first in the country launch such a scheme successfully.

“Some states are trying to follow our Duare Sarkar scheme these days…. I can see that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow,” Mamata said.

While the government is bullish about the scheme and its impact on forthcoming elections, a senior bureaucrat said it would take a while to assess whether the project could be implemented as planned.

“There are several practical problems in implementing the scheme…. It has to be seen how ration dealers and local administration navigate through them,” said the bureaucrat.