Tapan Mondol, 31, recently attended a meeting at Bele-Durganagar High School in Joynagar, South 24 Parganas, as part of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government’s “Amader Para, Amader Samadhan” (Our Neighbourhood, Our Solution) initiative, launched on August 2. He highlighted the community’s lack of drinking water sources, stating, “We lack drinking water sources, forcing us to travel 2.5 km for water. So, we are proposing at least four tubewells for our Bele-Durganagar area.”
During the meeting, a government official responded, “One tube well costs around Rs 2 lakh, and we only have Rs 10 lakh in our fund. Installing four tubewells would exceed our budget.” Villager Prafulla Sardar, 67, supported Mondol’s proposal, emphasizing, “Drinking water comes first. So, prioritize the tubewells, then do whatever else you want.”
The West Bengal government launched an Rs 8,000-crore outreach program aimed at addressing local issues, including the installation of street lamps, road repairs, and improving water supply. This initiative, gaining momentum after the previous successes of ‘Duare Sarkar’ and ‘Parai Samadhan’ campaigns, will be conducted at the neighborhood level.
In the scheme, each locality, or “para,” consists of three booths. On the program’s opening day, each center featured rooms where villagers could submit their needs. These requests were compiled by a neutral party and submitted to the administration for review. A help desk was also established to assist with individual issues and applications.
The initiative comes ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, which are less than a year away. For Booth 181 in the Joynagar Assembly constituency, voters from three booths participated in the camp. District Magistrate Sumit Gupta inaugurated the camp, stating, “We have supplied the scheme names which will be allowed in this program. People will present their demands today, which will be scrutinized, and selected projects will roll out from November. We organized 56 camps across the district on the first day.”
A controversy arose as it was revealed that Bele-Durganagar High School had exams scheduled on the same day as the camp, prompting concerns about the disruption. School headmaster Arijit Sarkar asserted there were no issues, while the District Magistrate acknowledged the lack of awareness regarding the exams, promising an investigation.
Another camp was arranged at Champahati Nilmani Kar Vidyalaya for booths 24, 25, and 26. Panchayat Development Officer Sanjib Roy Chowdhury remarked on the influx of residents seeking assistance with applications for OBC certificates and government schemes. Local TMC leader Manna Naskar noted the program’s potential to facilitate development by engaging general voters.
Asit Baran Mondol, a TMC leader and local panchayat pradhan, explained that over 300 individuals participated, offering proposals primarily focused on roads, drinking water, and streetlights. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who introduced the initiative, described it as a groundbreaking opportunity for citizens to voice their concerns and collaboratively address local challenges.
Banerjee later announced via social media that “Amader Para Amader Samadhan” (APAS) aims to institutionalize participatory governance, allowing residents to prioritize their infrastructure needs. With an allocation of Rs 10 lakh per booth and coverage across more than 80,000 polling booths, the state is launching 632 camps under this program, blending existing initiatives with a fresh approach to local governance. Banerjee invited citizens to engage with the camps to ensure the program’s success and expressed gratitude to government officials and stakeholders involved.
Original Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bengal-govt-rolls-out-rs-8000-cr-outreach-programme-to-resolve-local-issues-10166348/
Category: Cities,Kolkata
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Publish Date: 2025-08-03 03:12:00
