Kolkata: The state govt will organise camps across Bengal from Oct 2 to 4 to enrol beneficiaries for schemes.In Kolkata, camps will be held at 50 locations, with each serving three or four wards, a KMC official said. They will target eligible beneficiaries who have not enrolled or cannot apply online.The two schemes with the most beneficiaries in Kolkata are Annapurna Yojana and Ayushman Bharat. Annapurna Yojana, which provides Rs 3,000 monthly assistance to women, has 4.5 lakh beneficiaries. Ayushman Bharat also has 4.5 lakh.“Most applications for welfare schemes were coming online. The govt was encouraging online applications as they helped streamline the process. But there are many people who are not adept at making online applications. We must reach out to them,” the official said.“The target of the camps is also to reach out to beneficiaries who meet the eligibility criteria but are not aware of the schemes or do not know how to apply. The camps will help us reach deeper into communities and provide the benefits of the schemes,” the official added.The govt held Jan Kalyan Shivir camps from June 15 to 17, the first since the BJP govt assumed office on May 9.Sources said the Oct camps would be more decentralised. “There were only 16 camps in Kolkata in June, one for each of the city’s 16 boroughs. The Oct camps will be more numerous,” an official said. Around 35 welfare schemes are run by the state and central govts.“Such camps will be held at regular intervals because adding new beneficiaries and shifting beneficiaries from one scheme to another as they cross different age thresholds is a dynamic process. The records need to be updated frequently,” the official said.
