Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched the fourth phase of the Pathashree–Rastashree project from Krishnanagar in Nadia district, announcing construction of 20,030 km of roads across rural and urban areas of the state.
The project, costing Rs 8,487.83 crore and funded entirely by the state government, is expected to benefit residents of 35,000 villages and 128 urban local bodies. It will also generate over 15 crore mandays through job card holders during implementation.
“The Central government has not released funds for road construction, MGNREGA and rural housing for four years. Do you know why? Because Bengal was on top [in terms of performance]. We have built 39,000 km of roads with state funds. A total of 1.83 lakh km of road has been built in our tenure,” Banerjee said.
She said the state’s Karmashree scheme, launched after the Centre halted funds for the 100-day work programme, has provided jobs to 78.31 lakh job-card holders at a cost of over Rs 20,000 crore, creating 104.58 lakh man-days.
“The 100-day programme offered only 30–40 workdays on average, but our Karmashree provides 70 days of jobs and will soon be increased to 75,” she added. Banerjee said that even after receiving notice from the Supreme Court, the Centre “did not release the funds”. “Suddenly, they sent a letter. With SIR (Special Intensive Revision) ongoing and only January left before the poll announcement in February, they have asked us to create a plan. In one gram sabha, not more than 10 people will get jobs.
They have given many conditions. They have asked us to create tenders. To create a tender, we will require three months. The financial year would end in March. This is a fallacy by the Centre,” she said.
The Chief Minister also flagged off tableaus that will travel to remote areas to raise awareness about the Pathashree–Rastashree project and the Banglar Bari housing scheme.