Over one crore people visited 14,500 'Amader Para, Amader Samadhan' camps in 26 days: Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday expressed delight over the overwhelming public response to the state government's civic outreach initiative, 'Amader Para, Amader Samadhan', saying over one crore people have visited around 14,500 camps in just 26 days. "I am feeling extremely happy and proud to announce that within only 26 days, more than one crore people from all over Bengal have visited around 14,500 'Amader Para, Amader Samadhan' camps, in order to have sustainable solutions to the various issues and problems in and around their localities. Congratulations to all for crossing the one-crore mark so quickly," she posted on X. This unprecedented and spontaneous participation of common men and women of Bengal in this socio-economic development initiative has further strengthened and added more life to the prevailing democratic and participatory good governance culture in this state, she said. "I am taking this opportunity to convey my heartfelt appreciation to all the people's representatives, government officials and other employees, as well as volunteers who are working relentlessly to translate this vision into reality, thus reaching to the doorsteps of all the citizens of this state. Besides, I also extend my sincere gratitude to each and every person of Bengal who has kept faith in us and relied upon our commitment, " she said. "We are deeply committed to reaching out to every person in Bengal with various government benefits meant for them. Besides, I ensure that to shoulder further responsibility and to provide quick and meaningful solutions to your problems, our 'Ma-Maati-Manush' government is always there and will be there in the days to come," Banerjee posted on X.

The initiative, announced on July 22 with an estimated outlay of Rs 8,000 crore, aims to address local civic issues at the grassroots level, including broken roads, defunct streetlights, leaking school roofs, and inadequate drinking water facilities. The state government plans to hold camps across all 80,000 polling booths in Bengal, offering an on-spot administrative redressal mechanism for citizens. A dedicated task force led by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant oversees the programme's implementation, with participation from senior officials of relevant departments, including finance and public works. District and state-level monitoring cells have been formed, while police personnel assist in coordination. Under the project's design, each set of three booths forms a cluster with a designated officer who will camp in each booth on rotation, listen to public grievances, and identify works to be undertaken. The government has allocated Rs 10 lakh per booth for the scheme, which commenced on August 2 and is expected to be completed within 60 days, excluding the Durga Puja break.