By Abhijit Ray, Kolkata
The new BJP government in West Bengal, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, has rolled out its first set of policy measures within 10 days of taking office, signalling a sharp break from the previous Trinamool regime. Announcing the launch of the Annapurna Yojana, the government has doubled monthly assistance to women from ₹1,500 to ₹3,000 and made travel in government buses free for women, effective 1 June. The CM also confirmed the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the state and the constitution of the 7th State Pay Commission to address DA arrears of employees.
In a major security move, more than 600 acres of pending land for India-Bangladesh border fencing, including 120 acres near the strategic Siliguri Corridor, have been cleared for handover to the BSF. The administration has begun an austerity drive mandating carpooling, work-from-home arrangements, and the use of Swadeshi goods in offices, while scrapping “religion-based assistance schemes” from June.
Reaffirming its manifesto, the government promised an AIIMS, an IIT and a cancer hospital for North Bengal, a 33% women’s quota in state jobs, and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code within six months. “This will be a government of nationalists that fulfils aspirations and ends syndicate raj,” CM Adhikari said during his first North Bengal visit on Wednesday, adding that people have already started receiving benefits promised in the BJP’s Sankalpa Patra.
