Bangla Govt ensuring farmers’ welfare with old-age pension

Besides the recent announcements of the Krishak Bandhu Scheme and the full payment of subsidies for crop insurance by the State Government, and the earlier announcements of the waiving off duties on mutation and of agricultural tax, another announcement has been made – pension for farmers.

The pension amount would be Rs 1,000 per farmer.

Listed below are the rules for the pension, as recently published in a government advertisement:

  • Minimum age should be 60 years, and for differently-abled farmers, 55 years
  • Must be a resident of Bangla for the preceding 10 years
  • To be a farmer, must own a maximum of 1 acre, and to be a bargadar, must own a maximum of 2 acres, or can be a landless labourer
  • Should not have any other source of income or not have anyone to take care of
  • Should not be drawing any emoluments or pension through any other scheme of either the State or the Central Government

 

 

State Govt looking after all aspects of fishermen’s welfare

The State Fisheries Department has taken several important measures for the welfare of fishermen, both in professional and personal aspects.

Professional welfare

Primary among the professional welfare facilities are fish transportation facilities, biometric identity cards and on-sea distress alert systems.

Fish transportation facilities: Various fish transportation facilities have been distributed by the State Government – 7,300 Jal-Hundis to inland and marine fishermen as well as among fishermen’s cooperative societies, 1,237 Matsyajans, 10,500 bicycles with insulated boxes as well as 35,000 insulated boxes.

Identity facilitation: Biometric identity cards are being issued by the Government to marine fishermen; about 2.47 lakh identity cards have already been issued. Marine fishing vessels are being registered under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (for mechanised boats) and the West Bengal Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1993 (for non-mechanised boats).

Distress alert: For the safety and security of fishermen, the Government has taken up a programme for the free distribution of distress alert transmitters (DAT), to be fitted on to the vessels. A total of 3,656 DATs have been distributed till now.

Mechanised boats: A total of 593 mechanised boats – 93 six-cylinder boats and 500 two-cylinder boats – have been distributed as of now, benefiting 3,430 marine fishermen.

Personal welfare

Several personal welfare initiatives have also been taken for fishermen and their families, including pension for the old, insurance schemes and dwelling units.

Old Age Pension Scheme: The Old Age Pension Scheme is a scheme meant for retired and infirm fishermen. Under this scheme, 56,500 fishermen are getting a pension of Rs 1,000 per month.

Accident insurance: Under Fishermen’s Group Personal Insurance Scheme, financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh is provided to the family members of deceased or untraceable marine fishermen, and Rs 1 lakh to those of permanently disabled marine fishermen. During financial year (FY) 2017-18, 2,21,563 fishermen were covered.

Dwelling units: 14,500 houses have been provided for fishermen and their families.

 

All these prove that the Trinamool Congress Government has given the utmost attention to the welfare of all fisher-folk in the State, ensuring help in every way possible.

Bengal Govt launches pension for 3 lakh people deprived by Centre

More than three lakh people, who are likely to lose their pension because new guidelines issued by Centre, have found a helping hand in the West Bengal Government. The State government is launching a special pension scheme for them, funds for which will be completely provided by the Bengal government. Around 3.25 lakh people will be benefitted.

Under National Social Assistance Programme, several crores of people receive financial aid from the government. Senior citizens, widows, disabled people mainly receive assistance. Bengal’s ‘quota’ in this programme is 21.31 lakh. However, the number of eligible people is 23.4 lakh. The State’s repeated requests for increasing the quota have fallen on deaf ears. Moreover, as per the new guidelines by Centre, 1.15 lakh people in rural areas would lose these pensions.

The Bengal Government has instructed all Panchayats to make a list of the people who are losing their pension, and enrol them under the special pension scheme as soon as possible, so that they continue to receive their aid.

 

কেন্দ্রীয় সাহায্য থেকে বঞ্চিত সওয়া তিন লক্ষ দুঃস্থর জন্য ‘বাংলার বিশেষ ভাতা প্রকল্প’ চালু করল রাজ্য

 

কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের নির্দেশিকার জেরে পেনশন প্রকল্প থেকে বঞ্চিত সওয়া তিন লক্ষ বৃদ্ধ ও অসহায় মানুষের জন্য ‘বাংলার বিশেষ ভাতা প্রকল্প’ চালু করল রাজ্য সরকার। এই প্রকল্পে প্রাথমিকভাবে ৩ লক্ষ ২৫ হাজারেরও বেশি মানুষ উপকৃত হবেন। প্রকল্পের পুরো খরচ বহন করবে রাজ্য সরকার।

ন্যাশনাল সোশ্যাল অ্যাসিস্ট্যান্স প্রোগ্রামের অধীনে দেশের বেশ কয়েক কোটি মানুষ ভাতা পান। মূলত দরিদ্র শ্রেণীর মানুষকে ন্যূনতম আর্থিক সহায়তা তুলে দেওয়ার জন্যই এই প্রকল্প। এই প্রকল্পগুলিতে প্রবীণ দরিদ্র নাগরিক, অসহায় বিধবা ও প্রতিবন্ধীদের মাসিক ভাতা দেওয়া হয়।

এই তিনটি স্কিমে রাজ্যের কোটা রয়েছে ২১ লক্ষ ৩১ হাজার। কিন্তু রাজ্যে এই স্কিমের আওতাভুক্ত হওয়ার যোগ্য মানুষের সংখ্যা ২৩ লক্ষ ৪০ হাজার। রাজ্যের আধিকারিকরা কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের কাছে বার বার রাজ্যের কোটা বাড়ানোর আবেদন জানালেও কর্ণপাত করেনি কেন্দ্র। উল্টে প্রায় দু’মাস আগে তাদের দেওয়া নতুন নির্দেশিকা অনুযায়ী রাজ্যের গ্রামীণ এলাকার ১ লক্ষ ১৫ হাজার মানুষ এই ভাতা প্রকল্প থেকে বাদ যাচ্ছে।

প্রতিটি জেলার পঞ্চায়েত দপ্তরকে নির্দেশ দেওয়া হয়েছে, ভাতা প্রকল্প থেকে বাদ যাওয়া বাসিন্দাদের ব্লকভিত্তিক তালিকা প্রস্তুত করে বাংলার বিশেষ ভাতা প্রকল্পে তাঁদের নাম অন্তর্ভুক্ত করতে হবে। যাতে এক মাসের জন্যও তাঁরা ভাতা

Bengal Govt to waive 10% of property tax for the elderly

The State Government has proposed to waive 10 per cent of the property tax for elderly citizens.

It may be mentioned that this comes at the time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stated that the state government will take many steps to extend all support to the elderly.

To bring this into effect, the State Government is going to bring two amending Bills in the Assembly – The West Bengal Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The West Bengal Municipality (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Waiving of 10 per cent property tax has some social implications as well.

Since coming to power, the Trinamool Congress Government has taken several steps for the benefit of elderly people and at the same time, ensured that the benefits reach the grassroot level.

It has also been proposed in the state Budget that the monthly pension of farmers will be increased to Rs 1,000 from Rs 750. At present, around 66,000 elderly farmers get the monthly pension.

In a bid to ensure social security of aged farmers, the State Government has decided to bring in 34,000 more elderly farmers under the scheme of old-age pension. With this increase in the number of beneficiaries, a total of 1 lakh elderly farmers are going to get the benefits.

 

প্রবীণদের সম্পত্তি করে ১০% ছাড় দিতে চলেছে রাজ্য

পুরসভা এলাকার প্রবীণ নাগরিকদের প্রদেয় সম্পত্তি করের উপর ১০ শতাংশ ছাড় দিতে চলেছে রাজ্য সরকার। আজ থেকে ফের শুরু হতে চলা রাজ্য বিধানসভার বাজেট অধিবেশনে এই বিষয়ে বিল আনছে পুর ও নগরোন্নয়ন দফতর। বৃহস্পতিবার অধিবেশনের কার্য উপদেষ্টা (বিএ) কমিটির বৈঠকে এই বিল পেশের প্রস্তাব গৃহীত হয়।

১ এপ্রিল থেকে কলকাতা পুরসভার নতুন সম্পত্তি কর ব্যবস্থা চালু হচ্ছে। যেখানে বলা হয়েছে, নির্দিষ্ট কয়েকটি মাপকাঠির ভিত্তিতে আপনার সম্পত্তির কর নির্ধারণ করুন আপনি নিজেই৷যিনি যে এলাকার বাসিন্দা, নতুন ব্যবস্থায় তাঁকে সেই এলাকার নির্ধারিত কর দিতে হবে।

এলাকায় পুর পরিষেবার মান খতিয়ে দেখেই করের হার নির্ধারণ করা হয়েছে।

ক্ষমতায় আসার সময় থেকেই তৃণমূল সরকার প্রবীণদের কথা ভেবেছেন ও চেষ্টা করেছে সব পরিষেবা সমাজের সকল স্তরের মানুষের মধ্যে পৌঁছে দিতে।

এবছরের বাজেটেও দেখা গেছে প্রবীণ কৃষকরা যারা পেনশন পান, তাদের পেনশনের পরিমাণও যেমন বাড়ানো হয়েছে ৭৫০ থেকে ১০০০ টাকায়, তেমন পেনশন প্রাপকের সংখ্যাও ৬৬০০০ থেকে বাড়িয়ে ১ লক্ষ করা হয়েছে।

Source: Millennium Post

Unoganised labour in Bengal covered by social safety net under Trinamool

Social security for unorganised labour in Bengal was an unheard thing before 2011. After Trinamool Congress took charge of the present Government, from bus drivers to taxi drivers, from street hawkers to auto rickshaw drivers, all have been brought under social security schemes.

Left Front did nothing to provide social security net to unoganised labour

Only during financial year 2000-01, after 23 years of rule, did the Left Front Government make any effort to provide a social security net to the unorganised labour force of the state – a provident fund scheme with help from the Centre, named State-assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for Unemployed Workers (SASPFUW). It provided monetary assistance to both self-employed unorganised labour as well as those working under an employer.

Yet, if one is to compare the last three years of the Left Front rule to the first three of the Trinamool, 1.61 times, or almost 61%, more people have been brought under the scheme – 20,81,000 against only 12,15,000. Whereas the average number per year was 4.31 lakh during the Left Front rule, it has been 6.93 lakh during the Trinamool rule.

Construction labour – much more covered as well as benefitted

For the unorganised labour force in the construction sector, the first social security scheme came only during financial year 2005-06, 28 years after the Left Front’s coming to power. The BOCWA scheme covered healthcare, pension, death benefits, accident benefits, etc. However, the amount given out under all the heads have been increased two to three times by the Trinamool Government.

During its last six years (2005-06 to 2010-11), the Left Front Government could enroll 2,72,000 such labour, of which almost 80%, or 2,25,000 were enrolled during the last three years. Comparing this with the number during the first three years of the Trinamool Government, one finds that it is more than five-and-a-half times.

Coming to the number of people who benefitted from BOCWA, one finds that during the last three years of the Left Front Government, 7,530 families of construction workers benefitted; whereas during the first three years of the Trinamool Government, 5,66,000 families benefitted, which more than 75 times.

Yuvashree Scheme

Yuvashree Scheme is a scheme started by the Trinamool Government for the benefit of the unemployed youth of the State. The so-called people’s government of the Left Front could never think of such a scheme. From 2011-12 to 2013-14, 1,56,000 unemployed men and 87,000 women enroled. Thousands more are continuously enroling. Under the scheme, the first 1 lakh qualified candidates, until they get employment, are getting a grant of Rs 1,500 per month.

Trinamool Government miles ahead

Taking the SASPFUW and BOCWA schemes together, during its last 11 years, the Left Front Government could enrol 26 lakh people, whereas during only its first three years, the Trinamool Government has enrolled 33 lakh. During the respective periods mentioned, the Left Front Government spent Rs 9 crore, whereas the Trinamool Government spent a whopping Rs 176 crore.

At the same time, during the last three years of the Left Front rule, 1,72,00,000 man-days were lost due to strikes; this came down 265 times during the first three years of the Trinamool Government to only 65,000 man-days.

Hence, it is quite apparent that the Trinamool Congress Government is much more intent upon improving the condition of the unorganised labour force of West Bengal.