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Not even a year of the Saradha scam, the state government has decided to dole out Rs 43 crore to the victims of the scam--a first of its kind move in the history of financial scams in the country.
Around 100000 people will get their principal investment in Saradha from the state government in the first phase. The district officials are working overtime to prepare the list of beneficiaries, the police are slogging to get the records verified and the banks are struggling to prepare 100000 cheques in haste.
It has been a short notice, as the CM wants to finish the first phase of compensation process over this week, before the Durga Puja.
Earlier, the state government had decided to raise funds up to Rs 500 crore for compensating the Saradha victims through higher value added tax on cigarettes.
This apart, this week will also see fund distribution for two other state-sponsored schemes—Yuvashree and Kanyashree. Under the Kanyashree scheme, the state will distribute Rs 25000 each to 10000 girls, or Rs 25 crore in total. The Kanyashree project has also led to the creation of 492 new posts for its execution. In total, the state plans to cover 2.4 million families under the project. The scheme involves one time grants to school girls who are 18 years but are not yet 19 years old. In addition, the he state will provide Rs 500 per year to girls from Class VIII to XII, provided their parents' annual income is not over Rs 1,20,000. Again, the CM has desired to launch the project before Durga Puja.
Next in line comes the Yuvashree scheme, under which the state plans to provide give Rs 1500 each to nearly 100000 youths enrolled in employment exchanges in the state in the first phase. Yet again, the deadline to roll-out the project is ahead of Durga Puja.
