In this article, we will discuss the various schemes introduced by the West Bengal State Government, which are very important from the exam’s point of view.
SCHEME FOR WOMEN AND CHILD
KANYASHREE PRAKALPA
The scheme launched by Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee in October 2013. An unmarried girl child who is 13 to 18 years old and reading in class VIII/IX/XI/XII will get an annual scholarship of Rs. 750/- if the annual income of her family is up to Rs. 1.2 Lac. The scheme has three components, names K1, K2, and K3, for those in school, after school and in post-graduation, respectively.
The object of the Scheme: To improve the status and well being of girls, specifically those from socio-economically disadvantages families through Conditional Cash Transfers.
RUPASHREE PRAKALPA
Government of West Bengal has launched Rupashree Scheme in April 2018. In this scheme one-time financial grant of Rs. 25,000/- for economically stressed families at the time of their adult daughters’ marriages.
The Object of the Scheme: While previous Kanyashree scheme promotes education among women, Rupashree scheme complements it with marriage assistance.
SABALA SCHEME
Sabla is a scheme, begun in 2011, for adolescent girls, which aims to improve the nutritional and health status of girls between 11 to 18 years of age and equip them with life skills training and knowledge on family welfare, health and hygiene, and information and guidance on existing public services.
The object of the Scheme: To empower adolescent girls between 11 to 18 years of age by improving their nutritional and vocational skills.
SABUJSHREE SCHEME
Sabujshree is an innovative was launched in 2016, the mother of a new-born girl child is handed over saplings for free to plant in someplace where it can be taken care of – so the tree grows up under her care just like her girl child.
The object of the Scheme: To protecting the environment and promoting girl children.
SHISHU ALOY SCHEME
Shishu Aloys, launched in 2012, are a type of advanced Anganwadi Centres, aimed at making children ready for school at the age of 6 years. Here, children are prepared for schools in every possible way as well as provided with nutritious food; they also get medical assistance.
SHISHU SATHI SCHEME
Shishu Sathi Prakalpa is a programme which was launched in 2013 for providing free-of-cost operations for children up to the age of 18 years, covering the treatment of congenital cardiac diseases, cleft lip/palate, and club foot.
SCHEME FOR FARMERS, SHGs & ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTIONS
KRISHAK BANDHU SCHEME
The scheme launched by West Bengal Government for farmers starting from January 2019. Under this scheme, the state govt. will give annual financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre in two installments, one during Kharif and another during Rabi season. The scheme also provides for a life insurance cover of Rs 2,00,000 in case of death, irrespective of the cause, of an earning family member (farmer) aged between 18 and 60 years. Farmers are not required to pay any premium to avail the insurance benefit.
The object of the Scheme: To helping poor farmers and laborers who are often deprived of sufficient crop production due to faulty farming practices.
BANGLA SHASHYA BIMA YOJANA
The West Bengal Government has launched Bangla Shashya Bima Yojana in 2019 for the farmers in the state. Under this scheme, the Government will provide crop insurance coverage to farmers, especially for the Kharif season crops. This scheme is supervised by the Department of Agriculture of West Bengal.
The object of the Scheme: To insurance scheme will enable farmers to cover up their losses in case their crops get destroyed due to any reason such as drought, Flood, Fire, etc.
ANANDADHARA SCHEME
The Anandadhara Scheme, initiated in 2012, is an anti-poverty programme for the rural poor, implemented through the organizing of women into self-help groups (SHG).
The object of the Scheme: To creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor, enabling them to increase their household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial and public services.
SWABALAMBAN SCHEME
Swabalamban is a scheme implemented through NGOs and companies for imparting vocational training to socially marginalized and distressed women, victims of trafficking, sex workers, the transgender community and women in mortal danger, in the age group of 18 to 35 years; if necessary, the upper age limit for such category of women is relaxed up to 45 years.
The object of the Scheme: To train the poor women, preferably in non-traditional areas to ensure their employment.
JAAGO SCHEME
The Scheme for Financial Assistance to SHGs shall be called JAAGO was launched in August 2019 for an eligible group of SHGs will be entitled to get financial assistance of Rs 5000/- per annum.
The object of the Scheme: To strengthen the Self Help Group movement and empower the deprived rural and urban population participating in SHGs.
GITANJALI SCHEME
Gitanjali is a housing scheme, introduced in 2011, meant for providing shelter to people belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS). A grant of Rs 70,000 is provided to a beneficiary in the plains whereas Rs 75,000 is provided to a beneficiary from the Hills region, the Sundarbans and Jangalmahal. This scheme is being implemented in the rural areas and non-Municipal urban areas under the name of ‘Gitanjali’ and ‘Amar Thikana’.
The object of the Scheme: To provide proper shelters to the economically weaker section of society as well as to create additional employment opportunities for construction workers etc.
SCHEME FOR YOUTHS
YUVASREE SCHEME (YUVA UTSAHA PRAKALPA)
Yuvashree was launched in 2013 to extend financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to 1 lakh of the job seekers registered in the employment bank portal, launched earlier by the government, selected on the basis of criteria like education (those who have passed at least eighth standard) and age group (beneficiaries must be in the age group of 18 to 45 years).
The object of the Scheme: To provide employment assistance to the unemployed youths of the state for increasing their employment ability and skill.
SIKSHASHREE SCHEME
Shikshashree is a scholarship scheme, begun in 2014 for the day scholar students of Class V to VIII belonging to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe category.
The object of the Scheme: The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to the SC students reading in classes V to VIII to improve their participation in Pre-matric stages and minimize the incidence of drop-out especially in case of girl students.
SABUJ SATHI
The scheme launched in 2015 distribution of bicycles to students of classes IX to XII, both boys and girls in Government and Government Aided Schools and Madrasahs of the State. The green-coloured bicycles have noticeably improved attendance and have proved to be a tool of student empowerment.
The object of the Scheme: The scheme was conceived with the primary objective of enhancing student access to Secondary Education. The scheme is further expected: (a) To increase retention in schools; (b) To encourage students to take up higher studies; (c) To inculcate sense of confidence among the girl students by promoting mobility; and (d) To promote environment-friendly and healthy means of transportation.
MISCELLANEOUS SCHEME
KHADYA SATHI SCHEME
The scheme launched by West Bengal Government in 2016, for ensuring food security for the people of the state, the hallmark of the scheme is giving 5 kilograms (kg) of rice or wheat per family member per month at Rs 2 per kg. There are special arrangements under this scheme for those below the poverty line, affected by the Cyclone Aila, working in tea gardens, living in the Jangalmahal region etc.
The object of the Scheme: The main object of Khadya Sathi Scheme is to ensure food and nutrition by the supply of food to the people from backward classes/ pavement dwellers/ aila, drought affected people etc.
SWASTHYA SATHI SCHEME
Swasthya Sathi, announced in 2016, is a cashless group health insurance scheme (that is, including families) for all those employed by the State Government’s departments, both permanently and part-time.
The object of the Scheme: To improve access of identified families to protect them from the financially debilitating effect of illness and adverse health conditions and to provide cashless, paperless, quality medical care for treatment of diseases involving hospitalization through an identified network of health care providers.
KHELASHREE SCHEME
The Khelashree Scheme, was started in 2017, is a developmental initiative to encourage sporting activities. As per the scheme, Madhyamik and Higher Secondary schools, High Madrasahs, colleges, universities, all clubs from the first to the fifth divisions of the Kolkata League and all clubs and sports institutions which have been getting annual financial aids from the State Government, would be given five footballs each.
The object of the Scheme: Development and Promotion of Sports throughout the State of West Bengal is the main focus of the Department of Youth Services & Sports in order to achieve this primary objective and rank the top in the Indian sports arena.
GATIDHARA SCHEME
The Scheme was launched in 2014; the government provides loans of up to Rs 10 lakh on an easy installment basis to enable people to buy cars, small trucks, etc. for commercial use, with a subsidy of 30 percent or up to Rs 1 lakh over the sanctioned loan while repaying the loan. Families with a monthly income of Rs 25,000 or less qualify for financial support under this scheme.
MISSION NIRMAL BANGLA
On the occasion of World Toilet Day, Mission Nirmal Bangla was launched on November 19, 2013. The Mission Nirmal Bangla has been taken up by the Government of West Bengal to achieve the larger objective of reduction in overall mortality and morbidity by reducing chances of waterborne and fecal borne diseases due to the prevalence of open defecation. It aims at reducing the loss of active workdays due to the prevalence of diarrheal diseases among the wage seekers. It seeks to reduce the drop out of children, especially girls due to lack of appropriate toilet facilities in schools. Its goal is to improve overall cleanliness in the villages and thereby contribute to improved environmental conditions.
In 2013, Nadia became the first ODF district in India.
This initiative of the State Government achieved international recognition when it was selected as the first place winner for the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award in the category of ‘Improving the Delivery of Public Services’.
The object of the Scheme: The overall object of the Mission is to bring about positive changes in the physical quality of life in the villages by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation. Its specific object is to transform all the villages of West Bengal to Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages by 2 October 2019.
UTKARSH BANGLA
The scheme launched by West Bengal Government for school dropouts in 2016 aim of providing vocational training.
SAFE DRIVE SAVE LIFE
The Safe Drive Save Life programme was started in 2016 to bring down road accidents in the State.
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