Kolkata, 22 July (H.S.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced a new public outreach initiative, “Amar Amar Samadhan” (My Locality, My Solution), aimed at delivering government services at the grassroots level.
The scheme is expected to function as a bridge between the government and the public, allowing citizens to directly raise local issues, particularly in rural and marginalised areas. Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, Banerjee said the initiative will begin from August 2 and run for two months, with a brief break during the Durga Puja festival.
> “This is a small programme for now, but it will gradually expand. For the first time in the country, the government is reaching out to resolve booth and village-level problems directly,” the Chief Minister said.
Under the scheme, each camp will cover three polling booths, with the state having around 80,000 booths in total. Camps will be held once a week in each centre, where government officials will be stationed throughout the day to listen to grievances and work on feasible solutions. These interventions will also be recorded and tracked through an online portal to ensure transparency.
Banerjee also announced that the state government has allocated ₹10 lakh per booth, taking the total projected expenditure to over ₹8,000 crore. A high-level task force headed by the Chief Secretary will oversee the implementation at the state level, with corresponding bodies being formed at the district level.
The Chief Minister noted that while many rural issues are handled through existing panchayat structures, several smaller and urgent matters — such as repairs to ICDS centres, walls, roofs, or small infrastructure works — often fall through the cracks. “These will now be addressed under the new initiative,” she added.
This scheme is seen as part of the Trinamool Congress's larger electoral strategy ahead of the 2026 state elections. Earlier too, the state government had launched welfare campaigns like “Didi Ke Bolo”, “Duare Sarkar”, and “Lakshmir Bhandar” , aimed at boosting direct contact with voters.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
