Bengal Budget 2023-24: Thrust on welfare schemes; Rs 350 cr for young entrepreneurs

Ahead of the Panchayat polls, the state Budget 2023-2024, stressing on social security of the people introduced several new schemes.

The second Budget presented by Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, on Wednesday, emphasised on creating employment opportunities as well as strengthening the socio-economic conditions of people in Bengal.

The state government has made a slew of new announcements while introducing schemes like Bhavishyat Credit Card, Matsyajibi Bandhu and Rastashree.

Bhattacharya announced that a startup fund of Rs 350-crore would be provided to aspiring young entrepreneurs, with each individual eligible to receive up to Rs 5 lakh.

The scheme has been christened ‘Bhavishyat Credit Card’. Under this scheme, around 2 lakh youth in the age group of 18-45 years will be given financial assistance as loans through banks so that they can set up micro-enterprises thereby creating more employment opportunities in the state.

The Mamata Banerjee government will provide subsidies in the form of margin money contributions up to 10 per cent of the project cost with a maximum cap of Rs 25,000 and guarantee coverage of 15 per cent.

Under the Matsyajibi Bandhu scheme, the state announced death benefits to support the dependent family members of the fishermen in case of their untimely death.

Under the scheme, on the death of a registered fisherman of the age group 18-60 years the dependent family members will receive a one-time grant of Rs 2 lakh.

The state has allotted a fund of Rs 30 crore for the scheme. The recipients of Lakshmir Bhandar will receive Rs 1,000 per month after attaining 60 years by way of automatic transition to the old age pension scheme. The state has already provided support to 1.88 crore women under this scheme.

The annual fund allocation for MLAs for local area development works under ‘Vidhayak Elaka Unnayan Praklp’ increased from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh for the next financial year, and an additional fund of Rs 30 crore has been allocated in the state Budget for this, the finance minister said.

Under the “Rastashree” project, new roads will be constructed and old roads will be repaired. “We are taking up a special project for strengthening the existing roads and also improving the connectivity of these roads with other places. A total of 11,500 km of rural roads will be taken up under this project. New roads will also be revamped,” Bhattacharya said. The state government has allocated a fund of Rs 3,000 crore for the smooth implementation of the project.

IT and Artificial Intelligence sectors have attracted significant investments also, Bhattacharya said.

She further mentioned that Bengal is leading the nation in providing loans to Self Help Groups and supporting rural housing projects. There has been an increase of nearly 25 per cent in loans provided to Self Help Groups, Bhattacharya stated.IT and Artificial Intelligence sectors have attracted significant investments also, Bhattacharya said.

She further mentioned that Bengal is leading the nation in providing loans to Self Help Groups and supporting rural housing projects. There has been an increase of nearly 25 per cent in loans provided to Self Help Groups, Bhattacharya stated.