The West Bengal CM issues directive after nearly 2,000 complaints about non-receipt of the benefits had reached the administration
Pranesh Sarkar: Mamata Banerjee has asked top government officials to initiate all required measures to ensure that none of the victims of Cyclone Amphan is deprived of benefits of various schemes announced by her to mitigate their plight.
The Bengal chief minister issued the directive after nearly 2,000 complaints about non-receipt of the benefits had reached the administration.
“The chief minister has asked us to set up committees headed by block development officers at block levels to ensure that none of the affected people is denied the benefits of government schemes. She has expressed her displeasure after about 2,000 complaints were lodged since the schemes were launched,” said a senior government official.
Cyclone Amphan had sliced through several districts in Bengal on May 20, razing thousands of homes to the ground, uprooting trees and knocking down power and telecom networks.
The state government launched several schemes to extend financial support to the affected people. A Rs 6,000 crore scheme was announced to extend financial aid to the affected people who, according to the government, number about six crore.
“Starting from assistance to rebuild houses, the government tried to support all — farmers, fishermen and poultry owners. But complaints started coming in from some places in the past few days, alleging that actual beneficiaries were being ignored,” said another government official.
A section of the officials said about 2,000 complaints had been lodged with the administration, particularly district authorities, since the schemes had been announced.
Majority of the complaints were that actual beneficiaries were being denied the benefits and people with political affiliations were getting the same though the cyclone had spared them. In Bengal, such complaints have become very common over the years.
Sources in the Trinamul Congress said the chief minister had taken the complaints seriously as unimpressive performance by the party in the last Lok Sabha polls had largely been blamed on alleged demand for cut money by a section of local leaders from beneficiaries of several welfare schemes.
“At that time, there were no complaints lodged by the beneficiaries. But we faced the wrath of common people in the Lok Sabha polls and lost 18 seats to the BJP,” said a Trinamul minister.
A Trinamul insider said the chief minister wanted to nip the problem in the bud keeping the next Assembly polls in mind.
“We cannot allow the complaints to grow. We need to address each complaint from the beginning so that a message can be sent to people,” said a Trinamul leader.
Sources aware of the development said Mamata had taken the 2,000 complaints seriously as she knew that the actual number would be much more. “Only a handful of people come forward to lodge complaints. That is why the chief minister wanted the administration to act from the very beginning,” said a source.PTI
