TN, Bengal give last-minute sops to voters
Wages of workers increased in Bengal, cooperative loans waived in TN
Kolkata/Chennai, Feb. 26: Just hours before the Election Commission was scheduled to announce the poll dates for five states, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal governments made last-minute announcement to woo voters
Following the EC announcement, the model code of conduct will come into force.
Taking to the Twitter, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government has increased the daily wages of labourers working under the state’s Urban Employment Scheme.
She said unskilled workers would get a daily wage of `202 per day, up from ` 144, while the same for semi- skilled labourers was raised to `303 from `172. Under the job scheme, the government introduced a new category for skilled workers who will get a daily wage of `404, Ms Banerjee said.
“I am pleased to announce a hike in the wages of daily wage workers under WB Urban Employment Scheme,” she said on Twitter.
Ms Banerjee made the announcement hours before the Election Commission of India declared the dates for the assembly elections in four states Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Elections for the West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases, up from seven last time, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27, chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said while announcing the poll schedule. Ms Banerjee said 40,500 unskilled, 8,000 semiskilled and 8,000 skilled workers will be benefited from the state government’s announcement.
“These wages are in parity with rural workers’ enhanced pay (MNREGA unskilled and semiskilled). Budget provision for this step has been made available for both FY21 and FY22,” she said on the microblogging site.
Similarly, Tamil Nadu chief minister K. Palaniswami waived loans availed from cooperative societies by pledging jewels upto six sovereigns and pending loans of women members of Self Help Groups in co-op banks and societies.
Representations were made by SHG members that they were not in a position to repay loans taken from cooperative banks and societies in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Palaniswami said in the Assembly adding they requested loan waiver.
Hence, to provide succour, the pending loans of poor women members of SHGs would be waived, he said in a statement in the House.
Presently, “more than one lakh SHGs are functional and in such groups over 15 lakh women are members. A majority of women in such groups belong to poor families that are below the poverty line,” he noted.
Similarly, the poor and ordinary people and agricultural labourers are facing great difficulties in repaying loans secured after pledging jewels, he said. Such loans were taken by them from cooperative societies to tackle financial distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, he noted.
Though the spread of the virus has declined to an extent, the economy has not recovered fully, he said.
Considering the inability of farm labourers and the poor people in repaying jewel loans, representations received from them and the views of economic experts, he said loans availed by pledging jewels, upto six soverigns would be waived.