West Bengal launches anti-corruption helplines
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari formally walked the talk against corruption, formally inaugurating on Tuesday an Artificial Intelligence-powered control room at State secretariat Nabanna with four dedicated toll-free numbers. This, in addition to his Government formally rolling out Rs 5-lakh Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme for those who would fall short of eligibility for the centrally sponsored Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme.
The helpline numbers would operate between 9 am and 6 pm from Monday to Saturday. The newly inaugurated helpline numbers —155334 for cut money, 155335 for syndicate raj, 155337 for illegal road taxes, 155339 for illegal distilleries — would allow people to register complaints regarding any kind of corrupt acts, including extortion, and deficiency in service, from delay in implementing infrastructural projects to denial of Government services.
“From now on, all the complaints will directly reach me regarding cut money, syndic ate raj, illegal tolls or illegal distilleries that often cause hooch tragedies,” the Chief Minister, whose Home Department on Tuesday effected a massive reshuffling in the subaltern section of the police and executive administration, said.
About 99 Block Development Officers, 31 Police Inspectors and 8 inspectors of women’s police stations were on Tuesday shuffled out, sources said.
The helpline numbers are comparable to a similar initiative by the previous Mamata Banerjee Government, which had launched a Didi ke Bolo (tell it to Didi — as Banerjee was called) campaign in 2021 but arguably failed to achieve its desired ends.
Apart from starting the helpline, the Adhikari Government on Tuesday formally rolled out the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana (MMSBY) (Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme), enabling the citizens to avail of a cashless health insurance package of up to `5 lakh — “but not those who qualify for Ayushman Bharat or have already enrolled in the previous Swasthya Saathi scheme,” sources said.
The package will be available to all members of the family that has less than a household income of Rs 8 lakh per annum, the Chief Minister said. The scheme would be valid throughout the country, Government sources said.
However, those who were already enrolled in CGHS or ESI schemes would not be eligible for the MMSBY, sources said. Other people who have been excluded from the scheme are State or Central Government employees, pensioners under Government health frameworks, and 70-plus senior citizens covered directly under Ayushman Bharat. The scheme would require Aadhaar-based verification, sources said.
