Bengal missing from PM’s job scheme for migrants

KOLKATA: West Bengal doesn’t figure on the list of states where returnee migrant workers will get job opportunities in infrastructure creation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the project under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan on Saturday.
For the project, the Centre has selected 116 districts in six states — Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Jharkhand. Three among the beneficiary states are run by BJP.
Those districts having more than 25,000 returnee migrant workers have been picked for the project. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has front-loaded 25 projects with a fund support of Rs 50,000 crore. The state administrations will be handling the projects with central fund support for 125 days.
The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan has sprung a surprise in Bengal political circles because quite a few districts such as Malda, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas and West Midnapore meet the central criteria.
Like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Krishak Samman Nidhi programme earlier, the Rojgar Abhiyan is set to generate bad blood between the Centre and the state. A surprised senior Trinamool minister Subrata Mukherjee said: “First of all, I don’t understand the principle of selecting the districts. If the Centre has chosen only those having over-25,000 migrant worker population, I can name districts in Bengal that meet the criteria. The Centre shouldn’t discriminate against states. But there may be a possibility that it took a political decision.”
CM Mamata Banerjee told the media that a total 11 lakh migrant workers returned to Bengal by train, which averages out to nearly 48,000 in each of the state’s 23 districts.
BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu turned the problem upside down. “Those in the state government expressing surprise over non-inclusion of Bengal districts under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan need to look at themselves before blaming the Centre. The state hasn’t furnished district-wise list of its migrant workers,” he said.