Mamata Banerjee releases Trinamool manifesto, promises 5L jobs each year

Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday released the election manifesto of Trinamool Congress ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in the state to be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29.”I humbly present my 10 ‘Ongikars’ (promises) to build a stronger and more prosperous Bengal, so that the wheels of development keep moving forward in the third term of our government. The aim is just one, to sustain Bengal as one of the leading states in the country,” Banerjee said.She said that the 10 promises would form the foundation of the governance and would determine the roadmap for the next five years. The focus will be on making Bengal India’s fifth-largest economy by creating five lakh new jobs every year.”For the first time, female heads of 1.6 crore households will benefit from a monthly basic income support scheme. Under this, 1.6 crore eligible general category families will get a monthly cash transfer of Rs 500, which will amount to Rs 6,000 annually,” she said, adding that the direct transfer would be made to the woman head of the family.The manifesto further mentioned that students will be able to take loans of up to Rs 10 lakh using student credit cards at an interest rate of 4 per cent.The Chief Minister said that her government has helped lakhs of widows, senior citizens and specially-abled people through monetary assistance in the last 10 years.”Additionally, we are going to provide Rs 10,000 per acre per annum to all small and marginal farmers. All the 10 promises are my personal commitments and I promise to deliver them to the people of Bengal,” the Trinamool supremo said.Banerjee said that her government, if it is voted to power for a third term in 2021, would double the state’s health and education budget. She also promised to follow up with the Centre for granting ST status to the Mahato community in the state’s Junglemahal.