State set to provide 50 days of work to 75L job card holders in current fiscal

Pradip Chatterjee, MP, 11 June 2024, Kolkata: The Bengal government is poised to roll out the ‘Karmashree’ project, an initiative to provide a minimum of 50 days of work annually to job cardholders, fulfilling a promise made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 

The state aims to reach a staggering 7.5 million (75 lakh) beneficiaries under this scheme within the current financial year. According to sources, approximately 38,000 job cards had been prepared by the state government by June 7. 

Following the alleged suspension of payments by the Centre under the 100-day-work scheme, the Mamata Banerjee administration independently launched the ‘Karmashree’ project. This initiative ensures that job card holders in the state receive at least 50 days of employment, with timely payments, circumventing any indefinite delays. 

Both the state government and the Centre previously provided job opportunities to job card holders under the 100-day-work scheme. However, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has recently and repeatedly alleged that the people of the state have long been deprived due to the Centre’s failure to clear dues under the MGNREGA scheme. 

The state government has therefore started the process of ensuring a minimum 50-day job opportunity for the people of Bengal. As many as 75 lakh people in Bengal would get job opportunities under the ‘Karmashree’ scheme within the current financial year. 

Asserting that the Bengal government would never bow down to the political narratives of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and would introduce the state’s own 100-day-work scheme, Chief Minister Banerjee on repeated occasions claimed that the state has dues of Rs 7,000 crore from the Centre under 100-day work scheme. 

Banerjee had also stated that the state government in the last two years had created 39 crore man-days of work at a total expenditure of Rs 8297 crore.

The state government had also allotted budgetary funds in this year’s Budget to run ‘Karmashree’ scheme so that the people who have been denied money due to the non-clearance of dues by the Centre get paid. 

CM Banerjee had promised that her government would provide at least 50 days of work to the job card holder. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/state-set-to-provide-50-days-of-work-to-75l-job-card-holders-in-current-fiscal-567381