In what the critics called an effort to comeback to power in the upcoming municipal elections in the State besides generating goodwill for the next year’s Assembly elections, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday walked in the footsteps of her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal by announcing free power for an earmarked section of the society among other populist schemes. 

Announcing the “conditional” power scheme called ‘Hasir Alo’ (smiling light) State Finance Minister Amit Mitra said that the households with a quarterly consumption of up to 75 units would get electricity free of cost. The scheme is expected to benefit 35 lakh poor households Mitra said adding Rs 200 crore have been allocated for the purpose.

In a Budget apparently aimed at the have-not gallery her Government also announced a cluster of Left-leaning measures that ranged from almost free-of-cost provident fund for the unorganized sector to suggesting waiver of agricultural income tax for two fiscals and constructing houses for the permanent workers engaged in the moribund tea industry of North Bengal.

The ruling Trinamool Congress had earlier attacked the Centre for giving nothing to the tea workers of North Bengal from where the BJP had won all the five parliamentary seats.

Rs 500 crore for have been set aside for the housing scheme for tea garden workers, named ‘Chai Sundari’ the Finance Minister said adding the scheme will benefit around three lakh workers in 370 tea gardens of North Bengal.

The “Bina Mulya Samajik Suraksha” was launched to provide Provident Fund (PF) at negligible rate of Rs 25 per month for the poorest of the poor. The Government will contribute Rs 30 per month as PF to this new scheme. At the age of 60 years, on death or discontinuation, the amount can be drawn along with the interest.

Apart from this the Government also allocated Rs 200 crore for the next financial year for the MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) parks. Under Karma Saathi Prakalpa the Government will provide soft loans to unemployed youth for setting up small ventures.

The Government also announced setting up of a new university in Scheduled Tribe dominated area of Jhargram. Two other universities will also come up at Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Caste dominated areas. This apart the three new civil service academies will be set up in Kolkata, Durgapur and Siliguri.

Meanwhile at the post-Budget media meet Banerjee attacked the Central Government for coming out with a religion-centric Budget and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to avoid what she called “politics of vendetta” and work with the opposition parties.

“It is our duty to work together to improve the economic condition of the country and if needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak to the opposition parties,” Banerjee said adding the Union Government should try to improve the financial health of the country instead of spreading politics of hatred.

“Whatever RBI is saying is a sensitive matter. The union government should look after the economy, instead of being busy in the politics of hatred. The Prime Minister should take everybody along, if needed hold discussions with opposition parties,” she said after her Government presented the Budget.

Attacking the State Budget opposition leader Abdul Mannan said that it was full of “high sounding nothing” as “they have announced a whole lot of schemes but have not said as to where the money will come from.”

Left Legislative Party leader Sujan Chakrabarty dared the Government to “come out with the details of planned expenditure instead of non-planned expenditure,” adding how the present Government had been moving towards a debt trap with a cumulative debt burden of Rs 4.6 lakh crore in a matter of just 8-9

 years.