With the Bengal Assembly elections little less than a year away the Mamata Banerjee Government has launched a fresh reach-out programme — Amaader Para Aamader Samadhan (my locality my solution) — a Rs 8,000 crore project aimed primarily at eliminating the civic woes of the citizens.
The scheme that took off on Saturday reportedly was drawing crowds in thousands in 632 camps that were set up across the state to begin with, State Minister Snehashis Chakrabarty on Sunday said.
The “perennial concerns” that government wants to address are roads, drinking water, street lighting and sanitation, a Trinamool Congress MLA from South 24 Parganas said adding “it is not possible to solve everything in one go because there are recurring issues but our Chief Minister wants us to continuously be at it so as not only to solve their problems but also to make the citizens feel like they have the government by their side.” In the first lap the camps had attracted about 2 lakh people, sources said.
Earlier Banerjee had announced that the Government would set up 27,000 camps over the next 60 days — discounting the Durga Puja holidays —covering about 80,000 booths and no less than about 10 crore people.
Each booth has been allocated Rs 10 lakh “wherein residents will b e required only to walk up to their Para (neighborhood) camps with their voter ID and submit written complaints,” a senior official said adding the government people would “call them back if need be on the phone numbers provided and provide them with the updates.”
The Chief Minister would conduct an administrative review at the end of the programme, in November, so as to get the feedback the official said refusing however to dwell on how the programme would continue in tandem with the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls likely to be started by the Election Commission of India all about the same time.
Informing that the “Amader Para Amader Samadhan” (APAS) 632 camps were being held across the State,” Banerjee wrote on her social media handle that Duare Sarkar — a previous reach out scheme — counters had also been set up in APAS Camps.
She wrote “I invite the people to visit their camps and participate in the discussions to make APAS a grand success. I also thank the concerned government officials and other stakeholders for their efforts in the smooth roll out of the campaign.”
APAS corresponds to previous such programmes like Didi ke Bolo (tell your Didi), Duare Sarkar (Government at the doorsteps) that had been huge success. “Besides addressing the people’s issues they vented out their pent up anger often,” said BN Chakrabarty a renowned State poll watcher and a professor.
“Though it may not address core issues like institutionalised corruption, large-scale unemployment, communal divide at least these would help apply a temporary balm by installing and repairing street lights, schools and community centres, drinking water supply, renovation of water bodies, repair of schools and community halls, small road repairs, construction of toilets in slums and area beautification and even hospital issues” he said. Adding “a cunning politician that Mamata Banerjee is she understands that like the earlier issues this one scheme could go miles in assuaging ruffle feelings among the masses to say the least.”
The Opposition BJP and the Left on the other hand slammed the Chief Minister for utilising the Government workers for political ends.
“The Chief Minister is trying to phantom people’s feelings in different areas through the APAS and Duare camps if that be so it is unfair because she is using government machinery for political purpose and why months before the elections this also proves that she does not have faith in her party men,” said CPI(M) central committee Sujan Chakrabarty.
Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha questioned the genuineness of the Chief Minister’s “so-called sanctioning of Rs 8,000 crore,” wondering whether the Government does have that amount of money.
“She has made Bengal bankrupt and is planning to take more loans for political reasons “half of this money will go to the TMC coffers to fight elections and fill the pockets of their netas this is the beginning of a new scam just like the Sharada, Narada, recruitment scams,” another leader said.