'Ration, healthcare, education free for lifetime if we come to power'

Kolkata: Ration, healthcare and education will be free for lifetime if Trinamool Congress is voted to power in 2021 Assembly elections, party supremo Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday while addressing a virtual rally to observe the Martyrs' Day.

"If we come to power, ration, healthcare and education will be free in Bengal. The state government has already announced that ration will be free for the Khadya Sathi beneficiaries till June 2021 and if we come to power next year, it will be free forever."

Banerjee said in Bengal the number of scholarships given to the minority and SC and ST students is highest in the country. One crore students of state-run, aided and sponsored schools get cycles free of cost under Sabuj Sathi project. Students have been immensely benefitted by Kanyashree and Yubashree schemes.

She said because of the deadly pandemic and Super Cyclone Amphan that had affected the state badly, projects to create more jobs for the youths could not be taken up. However, when the percentage of unemployed youths in the country has gone up by 45 percent, in Bengal it has gone down by 40 percent.

"This is remarkable and this has been possible as more jobs have been created for the youths. In future, steps will be taken so that they get more jobs," she maintained.

Banerjee said healthcare is absolutely free in Bengal and more than 7.5 lakh families have been brought under the Swasthya Sathi scheme. People from neighbouring states and countries come here to get free treatment.

"The child mortality rate has gone down and the rate of institutional delivery has gone up since we came to power in 2011," she remarked.