West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced here on Wednesday her government's decision to increase the number of those to whom rice is being made available at Rs. 2 a kg.
“The poor do not get food; we have decided to ensure that all do,” she said while announcing a new scheme of food for the poor after a meeting with the Food and Supplies Minister, Jyotipriya Mallick, and officials concerned.
Initially the scheme, which envisages increasing the number of those eligible to get rice at Rs. 2 a kg, will be introduced in the blocks comprising the Jangalmahal area, spanning the three south-western districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia, the Chief Minister said.
The Jangalmahal area has been in the news in recent times for Maoist activities there.
The Chief Minister said her government had decided to provide rice at Rs. 2 a kg to all tribals in the region with an annual earning of Rs. 42,000 or less.
“Previously those tribals earning Rs. 24,000 or less were, under a Centre-State scheme, eligible to get rice at that price. But in view of the rise in prices of essential items, we have raised the income eligibility ceiling to Rs. 42,000 per annum,” she said.
“It has also been decided that all other sections of the poor in Jangalmahal, irrespective of caste and community and with an annual earning of Rs. 36,000 or less, will also be brought within the ambit of the scheme,” the Chief Minister added.
Monthly meetings would be held with the Food Department for effective monitoring of the scheme, Ms. Banerjee said.
She expressed dismay over the state of affairs at the Bagha Jatin State General Hospital in the south of the city to which she paid an unannounced visit earlier in the day.
“Much of it is lying unused and unutilised… There is no adequate infrastructure, with few doctors and staff,” Ms. Banerjee, who is also in charge of the Health Department, said.
“The government is working on ways to develop infrastructure in hospitals and has a three-tier plan — short, medium and long-term — for the purpose. There should be proper planning,” Ms. Banerjee asserted.
The Chief Minister said she had been holding discussions with officials concerned for improving the traffic system that would entail, among other things, widening of some roads without evicting hawkers on the pavements.
