Kolkata: From Duare Chikitsa (healthcare at your doorstep) and carving out seven new districts in Bengal to making the state’s economy the third-largest in India within the next 10 years, CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday released Trinamool’s manifesto for the 2026 Bengal polls with 10 pledges.The seven new districts will be Kandi, Behrampore, Bishnupur, Sundarbans, Ranaghat, Ichhamati and Basirhat, the manifesto said. At present, the state has 23 districts. The other pledges included a pucca home for all Bengal families and safe drinking water supply for all.‘Duare Chikitsa’, modelled closely on the party-run health camps, Sebashray — introduced by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in his Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency — will debut as annual state-run health camps in every block and town for effective doorstep delivery of healthcare. The party will also establish fair price medicine shops in all block-level health facilities.Banerjee said: “Every year, in every block, Duare camps will take place — Duare Swastha (Chikitsa). We have the Swasthya Sathi card, medical camps, multi-superspecialty hospitals and mother-and-child hubs. This is why the institutional delivery rate is 99.5% now, which was not more than 60% previously. And 250–300 ICU-type vehicles have been developed using MPLAD funds.”While taking a dig at the Centre for blocking Bengal’s dues, the manifesto said that TMC aimed to “position Bengal as the 3rd largest economy in India within the next 10 years, and build a Rs 40 lakh crore economy within the next five years, sustaining double-digit growth and accelerating investments across sectors”.The manifesto also noted that TMC aimed to “establish Bengal as India’s gateway of trade for eastern India by developing the Global Trade Centre, expanding deep-sea and river port networks and creating modern logistics hubs to boost exports and generate high-quality employment.”Around 25 towns — Howrah, Diamond Harbour, Bardhaman, Durgapur, Bolpur, Krishnanagar, Barasat, Raiganj, Siliguri, Behrampore, Malda, Kalyani, Srirampur, Andal, Bankura, Purulia, Digha, Midnapore, Jhargram, the NKDA area, Gangarampur, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Darjeeling — will be developed as model cities with state-of-the-art urban infrastructure under the Mission Mahanagar programme.The manifesto also mentioned a Gig Workers’ Policy to bring all registered gig workers under the Bina Mulya Samajik Suraksha Yojana (BM-SSY) to ensure social security and institutional protection.The CM said: “The Modi government had promised 2 crore jobs every year, but instead, unemployment has increased nationally by 40%. In Bengal, unemployment has reduced by 40%. Nationally, more people have fallen below the poverty line, whereas in Bengal, we’ve brought 1 crore 75 lakh people out of poverty.”She added: “For the youth, we have the Yuba Sathi scheme, which gives Rs 1,500 monthly (Rs 18,000 annually) to 1 crore youths aged 21–40, regardless of whether they receive any scholarship.”To monitor last-mile work, the manifesto stated that the West Bengal High Performance Delivery Unit will be established to monitor and evaluate service delivery.
