Duare Sarkar kicks off with 5.5 lakh applications in West Bengal

KOLKATA: The launch of the sixth edition of Duare Sarkar on Saturday saw around 5.5 lakh applications being received across 15,132 camps till 4.30pm. Bengal chief secretary H K Dwivedi said the applications for 32 state schemes would be accepted till April 10 and the services would be delivered from April 11 to 20.
Lakshmir Bhandar, a financial aid for women of 25 to 60 years age, remained the most sought-after scheme, with 1.4 lakh applications the first day. The number of applications for Swasthya Sathi card was close to 60,000 and that for Khadya Sathi was 31,456.
The most applications were submitted in Murshidabad, where 1 lakh footfall was recorded at 1,226 camps; it was followed by S 24-Parganas with a footfall of 62,792 at 1,749 camps. Eighty-six camps were held in Kolkata, where the turnout was 9,793. N 24-Parganas DM Sharad Kumar Dwivedi said they kept complaint boxes at all the 2,011 camps and held mobile camps for remote areas, including Sundarbans.
Dwivedi said 21,233 applications were received for the widow pension scheme, for which they have set 100% target. The focus is also on Bhabisyat Credit Credit, which received 5,646 applications on Saturday. Stress is on two other schemes—sprinkler irrigation under Bangla Krishi Sech Yojna and Medhashree, a scholarship for OBC students. Krishi Sech Yojna got 683 applications and Medhashree 219.