WB: Special Camp for ‘Duare Sarkar’ Project Launched, MGNREGA Workers Excluded

The West Bengal government had launched a new project, 'Duare Sarkar' (Government at the door), to provide all government services to the people of the state under one umbrella. But this time, it will start in a completely new form, named 'Duare Sarkar Special Camp,' which began in every state district from Monday, June 13. It will continue until July 31.

Surprisingly, there is no mention of 100 days of work in the list of services in this special camp of the government project.

The 'Duare Sarkar' project originally started in December 2020. According to administrative sources, at the beginning of the project, the distribution of MGNREGA job cards was at the top of the list of service providers.

The TMC-led state government alleges that the Central government is not paying the MGNREGA dues for the last six months. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for dues of Rs 6,000 crore but did not get any answer.

There is also an allegation that the Central government has not even approved the labour budget for the current financial year. To tackle the situation, the state government had said that job card holders would be given jobs in all state departments.

During a visit to Jangalmahal last month, the Chief Minister had said, "BJP-led government is not paying for the 100 days of work since last December. We have told the Public Works Department that from now on, job cardholders will have to take whatever work will be done in the area. Irrigation Department, Livestock Development Department, Information and Culture Department, Department of Indigenous Development - all departments are being told to work with 100-day job card holders."

Even after this announcement by Chief Minister, questions are being raised as to why 100 days of work is being omitted in the special camp of the Duare Sarkar Project.

An administrative official said, "The work being done in various government departments now is either with money from the Central government or loans from the Asian Development Bank. Skilled workers do the work. There is no way to involve unskilled workers."

That means, despite the announcement of the Chief Minister, there is little opportunity for MGNREGA workers to work in any state department. According to administrative sources, 100-day workers can only be employed in the Irrigation Department. However, that number is very low.

In that case, another question arises. Why did the state government organise this special camp?

Earlier this month, the state chief secretary said, "Tribal and marginal people are not getting government services despite the Duare Sarkar project. Earlier, patta was distributed to the people from the camp. But they have not got the land yet."

The opposition parties claimed that the Duare Sarkar project failed to provide government benefits to marginalised people. For this reason, a special camp was organised.