West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a new scheme to support migrant workers who have returned to the State after facing harassment in other parts of India. Speaking at the State Secretariat in Howrah, the Chief Minister said the scheme, called Shramashree, will offer a monthly cash support of ₹5,000 to workers for up to one year until they find new employment opportunities inside the State.
According to her statement, the scheme will also allow returning migrants and their families to access other State government programmes, including ration cards and free healthcare under the Swastha Sathi scheme. The government plans to extend this new benefit to all 22,40,000 migrant workers from West Bengal who are currently living and working in different States.
Ms. Banerjee said around 10,000 people have come back to West Bengal in recent months after they were targeted or detained in other States. She urged these returnees to register their names on the Shramshree portal so they can receive a card to access the benefits. She also explained that even those who have not yet registered their names will be allowed to do so and join the programme.
Over the past few months, many Bengali-speaking migrant workers have reported being stopped by local authorities in other States and asked to prove that they are Indian citizens and not Bangladeshi nationals. Some workers even claim they were wrongly deported to Bangladesh and later brought back with the help of Indian authorities.
Why is this new scheme important for migrant workers in West Bengal? Many of those who returned complained that they had no job opportunities in their home State and were forced to go back to other States despite the harassment they experienced. The State government hopes that by giving them temporary financial support and access to basic services, they will be able to stay and find new employment closer to home.
Ms. Banerjee also criticised a mental health survey being conducted in West Bengal by AIIMS Kalyani. She claimed the survey was an indirect attempt to collect personal information for the National Register of Citizenship (NRC), and warned residents to avoid sharing private details with anyone who is not a State government official.
AIIMS Kalyani has denied this accusation, saying the survey is part of the National Mental Health Survey and is being carried out in seven districts of West Bengal under the guidance of the State Health and Family Welfare Department.