West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 for unemployed young job seekers to help them move towards self-reliance in the future.
The announcement, made on the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8, came during her speech at the sit-in held against the large-scale deletion of names of voters by the Election Commission during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state, PTI news agency reported.
The announcement is crucial in that it comes ahead of the assembly elections scheduled to be held in West Bengal soon.
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Who will be eligible for the monthly allowance?
Mamata said that those who have passed secondary examination ( Class 10) will receive the monthly allowance. The Bengal CM said that young men and women, between 21 to 40 years, who have passed their secondary exams, will be granted the allowance from March 7 itself.
“In the case of Yuva Sathi, all those who are still studying and are not beneficiaries of any schemes other than scholarships will receive the amount,” PTI quoted Mamata as saying. The chief minister said that while the TMC-led government had earlier said that this allowance would begin in April, they would now roll out the amounts immediately.
“…Since tomorrow is International Women’s Day, as a gift, we have changed the payment date from April 1 to today (March 7),” Mamata said.
Mamata says unemployment in Bengal decreased by 40%
Mamata said that her government had created employment opportunities in the state, adding that the unemployment rate in West Bengal had decreased by 40 per cent. “We have provided skill training to at least 40 lakh people, out of which around 10 lakh are already employed,” the CM said.
Mamata further said this was made possible because the state government had “linked the websites of industrialists with those who have received skill training through Utkarsha Bangla,” PTI reported. The chief minister said migrant workers would also be provided with opportunities. “Recently, I heard that around 10,000 people are being trained in the jute industry, and they will also be absorbed into jobs,” she said.
The Bengal CM highlighted that her government had announced ₹4,000 for landless farmers, saying earlier the farmers with one cottah of land also used to receive the same amount.
Mamata said that West Bengal was “number one in small and medium-scale industries”, stating that 1.5 crore of its residents work in small-scale industries.