MINIMUM INCOME, SOPS FOR WOMEN IN TMC MANIFESTO
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday released the party’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls in the state, promising a minimum monthly income if voted to power.
Under this scheme, a woman guardian of every family will get ₹500 every month, while the amount will be ₹1,000 for SC/ST/ OBC families. Apart from that, around 500,000 jobs will be generated, Mamata said.
The manifesto promises a student credit card of ₹10 lakh at only 4% interest, where the government will be the guarantor.
“My manifesto is development-based,” she said.
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday released the election manifesto, promising a minimum monthly income if voted to power. Under this scheme, a woman guardian of every family (general category) will get ₹500 every month, while the amount will be ₹1,000 for SC/ST/OBC families. “This is for everyone. This is not any job or anything. There will be no discrimination. But women guardian will get this, as part of our women empowerment programme,” Mamata said.
Apart from that, about 500,000 jobs will be generated, Mamata said. The manifesto promises a student credit card of ₹10 lakh at only 4 per cent interest, where the government will be the guarantor.
“Parents will not have to worry about the higher education of their children,” she said.
“This is not a political manifesto. My manifesto is development-based because I believe where there is a will, there is a way. This a manifesto of the people, for the people, and by the people. Elections will come and go, but people will be there forever. There are many things that exist only in Bengal. In Bengal, we give 731 days of maternity leaves. Because we believe in women empowerment,” Mamata said on announcing universal basic monthly income.
“We have not decided the name of the scheme yet, because we can’t call it a stipend. A stipend is for students. I don’t think we can give our mothers a stipend. The name will be finalised later,” Mamata added.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of plotting the “attack” on her in Nandigram to force her indoors ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal.
Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Gopiballavpur and Lalgarh in the Jhargram district, Banerjee alleged that earlier it was CPI(M) which used to physically attack her, and now the BJP was doing the same.
“They (BJP) wanted to keep me indoors so that I cannot go out during the elections. They have injured my leg,” Banerjee said, addressing the election rallies sitting on a wheelchair.
The chief minister had suffered an injury to her left leg at Nandigram on March 10 during a crowd surge as she greeted people from her vehicle with its door open, at a market area.
“They cannot throttle my voice, we will defeat BJP,” she said, while urging the people of the region to vote for the TMC candidates.
Banerjee claimed that though the BJP won the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat in 2019, the party MP did nothing for the area.
She mentioned the schemes launched by her government over the years, reaffirming that if voted to power she will ensure free doorstep delivery of ration.
Jhargram district, in the Junglemahal area in the western part of the state, witnessed a BJP wave in 2019 with the party winning four Lok Sabha seats in the region.