Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is placing the cards of Duare Sarkar scheme and the pandemic management cautiously to counter the efforts by the saffron camp to make gains in the Bengal polity. The CM has said that the West Bengal government is making arrangements to provide free COVID vaccines to all the people of the State. This development of the CM’s announcement comes in the run-up to the state election.

In an open letter, Ms. Banerjee said that the Covid warriors, including police, home guards, civil defence volunteers, correctional home and disaster management employees, will be administered vaccine on a priority basis.

“I am happy to inform that our government is making arrangements for reaching the vaccine to all people of the State free of any charge,” the Chief Minister said in the letter addressed to the frontline workers.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Ms. Banerjee further expressed her gratitude to all the Covid warriors for their selfless service to the people of West Bengal. India is set to launch its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 with priority to be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers across the country. The announcement comes when the state has faced discriminatory attitude from the centre in terms of fund allocation, like the GST compensation and the relief fund to be provided for the pandemic management and to deal with the Amphan cyclone.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made a similar announcement. The southern State will also go to polls along with Bengal. The Bihar government has also given the cabinet nod to provide free vaccine to every citizen of the state, a promise that the BJP made in its manifesto for the assembly elections held in October-November.

Also see: New Mutants of Coronavirus

Mamata highlighted the Duare Sarkar scheme

Recently the Bengal CM had also said that more than two crore people have visited Duare Sarkar  camps, a massive outreach programme to make schemes of the state government more accessible to the public.

Launched on December 2 last year, Duare Sarkar aims to bring 11 schemes of the state government, including Swastha Sathi (health scheme), Khadya Sathi (public food distribution scheme), Jai Johar and Kanyashree (a cash transfer scheme aimed at retaining girls in schools and preventing their early marriage) to the doorsteps of the people. The campaign is sought to capture the last 10 year’s work of the TMC government.

Elaborating the achievements of the Duare Sarkar scheme, Banerjee tweeted, “Almost 90 Lakh people across West Bengal received different kinds of services. This includes 62 Lakh beneficiaries under Swasthya Sathi, 7 Lakh beneficiaries who received SC/ST/OBC certificates and 4 Lakh beneficiaries who received assistance under Krishak Bandhu.”