The state of West Bengal is witnessing rapid growth and progress under Mamata Banerjee’s regime. She lives in Bengali people’s heart as the person who always stood for the citizens. With the utter trust and confidence they have in her, they call her ‘Didi’. She is big-hearted though a little blunt, she is very expressive about her opinions even in public meetings. Thirty fours years of ruling in West Bengal by the Communist Party of India left the foundation of the state in a very bad condition. After coming to power in 2011, she and her party, All India Trinamool Congress, have created and implemented so many development schemes for the people of Bengal. From the MSME sector to 100 days of work assurance, a surge of development can be seen in different sectors in Bengal.
When Mamata became the CM, the education sector of the state was in very bad shape. She scrutinised the situation of the sector and decided to transform the state’s education system. To encourage students, the state government launched ‘Sabuj Sathi‘ in 2015 in which the students got bicycles, to make it easier for those students who are living far away from the school. The bicycles helped students to significantly improve their attendance by assisting them to go to school conveniently.
One of the landmark programmes of the AITC government, the Kanyashree Prakalpa is one of the schemes which has been given international recognition by the UNICEF and the UK Department of International Development. It is an initiative taken by Mamata Banerjee to improve the life and status of girls who are economically backward.
Up until now, 56.25 lakhs girls have benefitted from this scheme. The scheme has two components, an annual scholarship and one-time grant. The purpose of this scheme is subtle, to ensure that the girls stay in school and keep them in the streamline of education so that their parents won’t fix their marriages before the age of 18.
Talking about marriage, the government has rolled out the Rupashree Prakalpa Scheme to help underprivileged girls get married. Under this scheme, the government provides one-time financial support of Rs 25,000 directly into the girl’s bank account. While Kanyashree promotes education among women, Rupashree compliments them with marriage assistance.
Not only with schemes, but in terms of bank lending too, the state has grown at the highest pace. Bank lending to the MSME sector has gone up by 105%. In 2014, the state government had set up 152 new clusters in the MSME, Handloom and Khadi Sector, that generated jobs for 4 lakh people. The state also ranked No.1 in the country in terms of expenditure in 100 days work scheme, under MGNREGA, by creating a 33% increase in man-days during the financial year 2016-17. The state broke another record in terms of most number of women employed under the same scheme with 46.6% of the workforce in West Bengal incorporating women.
The state has seen a lot of development under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. She is largely attributed with the empowerment of women and beautification of Kolkata. People of Bengal have utter trust in Mamata Banerjee, that is why in 2015, they again made her the Chief Minister of West Bengal with a full majority.