Kolkata: The Bengal government on Tuesday unveiled a two-month “Amader Para, Amader Samadhan (Our Neighbourhood, Our Solution)” scheme to solve neighbourhood problems across 80,000 booths in the state.The scheme, with a fund allotment of Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 10 lakh for every booth), will be launched on August 2 and will aim at finding locality-level solutions to problems like broken water pumps, short-stretch broken rural roads, out-of-order electricity poles and broken school roofs.Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announced the launch on Tuesday, a day after the Trinamool’s massive Martyrs’ Day show of strength. Bengal goes to vote for the 2026 assembly poll less than a year from now.The Mamata Banerjee administration had launched a series of good-governance schemes — Duare Sarkar, Lakshmir Bhandar, Didi Ke Bolo and Paray Samadhan — just before the 2021 assembly poll as well. These schemes were credited with contributing significantly to the Trinamool’s spectacular victory then; the party won 215 assembly seats to the BJP’s 77 (down to 65 now after a series of bypoll losses over the last four years).“This scheme may be a small programme but its scope is vast. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. People will not need to reach out to the administration; instead, the administration will reach out to people. The aim is to listen to ground-level people’s voices,” Banerjee said at Nabanna on Tuesday.“Neighbourhoods often need water pumps and fixing a portion of a rural road can help villagers avoid getting their feet soiled in mud. We have extended power to many places but broken poles may be a problem somewhere. School roofs may have collapsed. This programme will tackle all such minor issues and solve them quickly,” she said.The camps will start from August 2 and each camp will cater to people from three booths for one day, where administration officers will take on-the-spot decisions. “Our motto is ‘small is beautiful’ and we want to reach the heart of every village. All work will be done transparently through an online portal but people can submit their problems personally,” Banerjee added.The initial plan was to have one camp for every two booths but the number of booths was increased to three to ensure work could be completed in two months, the CM said.A task force led by chief secretary Manoj Pant, with the finance secretary and other key department officers, will oversee implementation at the state level; this will be replicated in every district, with cops to be a part of the team. “There will be a 15-day break for Durga Puja but we will cover all booths,” she added.Old schemes like Duare Sarkar would continue in December to complete all pending work, Banerjee said, adding that there were fresh applications for Laxmi Bhandar and distribution of caste certificates. “Pending court cases have stalled some of the work but we will complete everything,” she said.
