State gives Rs 2K each to 1L hawkers

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government on Thursday gave a festival grant of Rs 2,000 each to around 1 lakh hawkers as they have faced tremendous hardships due to the nationwide lockdown.

Distribution of the benefits started on Thursday with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handing over cheques to some of the beneficiaries. Banerjee directed all concerned officers to send financial grants directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

As many as 1 lakh hawkers will be receiving the benefits. Around 68,000 hawkers are from Kolkata and another set of 32,000 hawkers will also be receiving the same.

The state government had carried out a survey on the number of hawkers and based on the same the benefits have been provided to them.

It was on September 24, Banerjee had announced extending support to hawkers as they had faced heavy losses due to the lockdown.

She had announced giving financial assistance to hawkers ahead of Durga Puja.

The hawkers had failed to set up their stalls for a few months due to the lockdown. As a result they incurred huge losses. This comes when the state government has taken a series of steps to extend support to hawkers.