KOLKATA: Applications for the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme crossed the 1-crore mark on Friday since its launch at ‘Duare Sarkar’ camps from August 16. ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ is expected to roll out from Wednesday. Footfalls at ‘Duare Sarkar’ camps crossed 1.7 crore on Friday.
Under ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’, women in the age group of 25 to 60 years will get a direct bank transfer of Rs 500 per month for general caste and Rs 1,000 for the SC & ST category. Women who do not have any government job or pension will get the benefits from September. Even if one enrols later, they will get the arears with September 1 being the rollout date.
Due to the rush in ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme, DMs have been asked to be extra cautious and have been told to run more counters to deal with the rush. In Murshidabad, the district administration ferried women in boats to help them enrol in the scheme.
Problem arose in Murhidabad’s Farakka after a ‘Duare Sarkar’ camp which was earlier operated from Kulidiar Primary School in the Kulidiar Char area had to be shifted to an adjoining club as the school was under water.
Sulekha Mondal, the panchayat pradhan of Nayansukh, said to facilitate the villagers, boats were arranged to ferry women who wanted to enrol for ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’. “So far there had been 32 women applicants from this island for Lakshmir Bhandar,” she said.
(Inputs by Sukumar Mahato)
