Kolkata, Aug. 31 -- Asserting Nandigram as his government's "number one priority", Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday urged the people of the assembly constituency to help him improve his party's victory margin in the upcoming bypoll.
Addressing a massive public gathering during a government service delivery programme, Adhikari said his government had already initiated development works worth nearly Rs 300 crore across Nandigram I and II, including roads, rural housing, healthcare expansion, employment guarantees and social security schemes.
He appealed to the gathering to surpass the 82,000-vote margin he cited as his previous electoral mandate from the assembly seat. "Nandigram remains the priority. You had elected me, and I have been serving as chief minister for around three-and-a-half months. The work we have done during this short period is the beginning," Adhikari said, adding, "Last time you made me win by 82,000 votes. You remember that?
This time the record has to be broken."
Adhikari accused former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of holding up the railway project for Nandigram after losing the constituency in 2021.
He claimed that only six acres of land were required for the project and that around three-and-a-half acres had already been handed over to the Railways by his government. "We will give the remaining land as well. By March next year, I will board the train at Nandigram railway station," the Chief Minister added.
Adhikari claimed that Rs 3,000 had already been transferred into the bank accounts of around 67,000 women in Nandigram under the Annapurna Yojana during August, with another 5,000 applications under verification. CM also announced the rollout of the Viksit Bharat Gramin Rozgar Guarantee programme, under which job card holders would be entitled to 125 days of wage employment annually.
Eligible workers would receive up to Rs 34,500 in yearly wages through the scheme, while self-help groups were provided revolving funds of Rs 30,000 per group to strengthen rural livelihoods, Adhikari added.
Adhikari also said that 7,300 beneficiaries received the second instalment of Rs 60,000 each under the rural housing scheme, while the process had begun for constructing 11,700 new houses in the current financial year with the first instalment approved for eligible families.
"Around 32 new roads and road renovation projects had either been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid on Monday, marking a new phase of rural infrastructure development across the 17 Gram Panchayats of Nandigram," he added. On health insurance, he said nearly 2.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat cards were being distributed in the area, while around 87,000 people excluded from the scheme on eligibility grounds would receive coverage under the Mukhyamantri Health Bima Yojana. He claimed more than 16,800 people across the state had already availed free treatment since the launch of the new healthcare initiative on August 16.
Announcing healthcare expansion in Nandigram, he stated that Reyapara Rural Health Centre is being upgraded from 30 beds to 60 beds, Maheshpur Health Centre is being modernised with residential quarters for doctors and staff, while renovation work has begun at several primary health centres, including Amdabad and Boyal.
"A new maternal and child healthcare building and a night shelter for patients' relatives would come up at Nandigram District Hospital, while a "Jan Aushadhi Centre" and a low-cost "Ma Canteen" serving meals at Rs 5 had been introduced at Nandigram Super Speciality Hospital," Adhikari said. He further announced that post-mortem facilities would now be developed locally, reducing dependence on Tamluk. Adhikari repeatedly emphasised that welfare benefits would reach every eligible resident irrespective of voting preference, referring specifically to minority-dominated villages and migrant workers living outside Bengal.
Adhikari said pending cases against residents would be withdrawn and assured compensation and crop insurance support for farmers affected by excessive rainfall. He also promised to accelerate the long-pending bridge connecting Nandigram with Haldia.
CM also assured that thousands of legal cases registered against local people and those associated with the Nandigram movement would be dropped.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.