West Bengal Prachesta Scheme – 5 Applied From Kalimpong District, Only 2 Verified – 1 Application Rejected, 0 Approved

When West Bengal government initiated Prachesta Scheme amidst much fanfare, there was hope among people from across the state, that those workers who were struggling to make ends meet, would at least get Rs 1000 as financial support from the government.

The precedence was there, next-door neighbour Sikkim Govt had deposited Rs 30000 in the accounts of medical patients, and Rs 5000 in the accounts of students and Rs 2000 to daily wage earners. Another neighbour Assam Govt deposited Rs 2000 each in the accounts of over workers stranded outside the state and students. Almost all the states in North East India had deposited similar funds.

So when, West Bengal government announced Rs. 1000 to be deposited under Prachesta Scheme, workers from West Bengal stranded outside and in the state too felt they would get some support finally.

But, as the data we have accessed, the North South divide in number of beneficiaries is so stark that it exhibits the absolute failure of the state machinery in reaching out to the people in the north. We are not sure, if this is due to lack of initiative on the part of respective District administrations or Gorkhaland Territorial Administration to communicate the State Govt scheme well with the people.

Here are the list of applicants, and approved beneficiaries as of 29^th of May, 2020.

In the District Wise list of Bottom 4 i.e the Least Number of Applications submitted are unsurprisingly Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduars

District Names	Applications Submitted	Applications Verified	Applications Approved	Applications Rejected	System Auto Rejected	Payment Mandate Generated
Kalimpong	5	2	0	1	0	0
Darjeeling	2466	748	748	1252	466	745
Alipurduars	3072	609	609	2030	433	605
Jalpaiguri	6771	2672	2672	2301	1798	2642

In Kalimpong district, only 5 people allegedly applied, out of which so far only 2 applications have been verified. Out of which 1 application was rejected and ZERO applications have been approved till date.

In the District Wise list of Top 3 i.e the Least Number of Applications submitted are Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, Maldah

District Names	Applications Submitted	Applications Verified	Applications Approved	Applications Rejected	System Auto Rejected	Payment Mandate Generated
Murshidabad	76271	14839	14839	53358	8074	14681
North 24 Paganas	70656	27510	27510	31046	11744	27167
Maldah	70217	20030	19770	29991	9217	19453
Nadia	68043	13694	6489	16088	6069	5000
South 24 Pargana	59669	20281	20250	13486	7859	19961

It is evident that the four northern most districts of North Bengal – Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Alipurduars and Jalpaiguri where majority of the people are deprived for generations, continue to remain so, even in the days of Digital India.

Who do we blame for this?

Blaming only the politicians would absolve everyone else, including the bureaucrats and those of our people working for the Government, of failing to inform the people.

We hope this will help wake up our Youths too, who can actually take it upon themselves to inform the people of their rights.