Kolkata: Bengal’s grassroots governance initiative, ‘Amader Para Amader Samadhan’ (APAS), which kicked off on August 2, is witnessing an overwhelming response with more than 46.39 lakh people turning up at the camps held across the state. As much as 25 per cent of Bengal’s 80,000-plus booths have already been covered, and over 33.25 scheme requests have been made till August 18.
Citizens from every corner of the state are gathering to voice local priorities, deliberate with their neighbours, and collectively decide how to utilise Rs 10 lakh allocated to each of the state’s 80,000-plus booths. “The majority of the pleas are coming in the form of improvement of roads, drainage, street lights, rejuvenation of water bodies, repair of ICDS centres etc,” said a senior Nabanna official.
Some of the camps are using innovative means and even AI to encourage more participation.
Each camp is also housing Duare Sarkar (DS) service desks to address personal grievances, making it a holistic platform for public participation and service delivery.
The state has a target of 27,000 camps all over the state by November 3, excluding Sundays and all public holidays, as well as the festival holidays.