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New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a new rehabilitation scheme aimed at migrant workers from Bengal who have been compelled to return from other states. The initiative is named the 'Shramshree Project'. It seeks to provide financial support, job cards and welfare benefits to returning labourers and their families.
Under this scheme, workers will be given job cards through a dedicated web portal and provided with a monthly allowance of Rs 5,000 for one year or until they find alternative employment. They will also be covered under the Khadya Sathi food assurance programme and the Swasthya Sathi health scheme. The government, in addition, has also pledged to take responsibility for the education of their children.
The West Bengal CM, while announcing the project said that the state had decided to intervene after reports of rising harassment of Bengali-speaking workers in several BJP-ruled states. The workers who are working in other states are returning helpless, tortured, and are being labelled criminals because of their language. We have prepared a plan to bring them back and rehabilitate them,” she said.
She also alleged that nearly 22 lakh migrant workers and their families are being "harassed" in BJP-governed states though pre-planned attacks. Her criticism follows an incident in Gurugram, Haryana, where 52 Bengali migrant workers were detained by the local police on suspicion of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
The scheme, however, has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and senior BJP leader, dismissed the programme as inadequate and politically motivated. “We are giving ₹5,000 to Mamata Banerjee. Every migrant worker earns Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. This Rs 5,000 will not do anything for them. They are happy in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana and South India. They will not come to Bengal for this,” Adhikari said.
The scheme's announcement comes amid the speculation that the West Bengal CM may skip the inauguration of three Kolkata Metro projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 22.
