Mamata vows to eradicate poverty, create jobs

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her government is committed towards the alleviation of poverty in the state and also to generate employments.

Taking to Twitter on the occasion of World Day of Social Justice, Chief Minister said: "Today is #WorldDayofSocialJustice. Our government is committed to the alleviation of poverty, reducing unemployment, combating illiteracy and upholding human rights. This is exemplified in the social sector allocation in our budget — Rs 41,131 crore, nearly 10% more than last fiscal."

It may be mentioned here that after becoming the Chief Minister, Banerjee started a host of new social schemes to cater to the people from various walks of the society. To run these schemes in a better way the state Finance department has increased the budgetary allocation by 10 per cent than what had been in the last fiscal year.

In a significant boost to the agriculture sector, the Mamata Banerjee government increased the budgetary allocation by 120 per cent.

The government has achieved notable economic growth through the reduction of fiscal and revenue deficit in the state. The school education sector in the state has witnessed an increase in the budgetary allocation this year from Rs 24,720 crore to Rs 27,541 crore while in health sector the figure has gone up to Rs 9,556 crore from Rs 8,770 crore.

Various social schemes introduced by the Chief Minister that have contributed to the social and economic upliftment of the people in the state include Kanyashree, Sabuj Sathi, Khadya Sathi, Sabujshree, Sikshashree, Gatidhara, Gitanjai, Lok Prasar Prakalpa, Fair Price Medicine shops, Shishu Sathi and so on.

It may be mentioned here that the Kanyashree scheme, a brain child of the Chief Minister, has brought down the school dropout rate and also has helped girls from Bengal to become successful in different fields. Most of the 50 lakh girls from over 16,500 educational institutions have become "role-models" as they have got engaged in different sports, martial arts and skill development and they are also actively working against social evils like child marriage and dowry system.

The scheme had also bagged the first prize in United Nations Public Service Award for Asia Pacific.