KOLKATA: Long queues of thousands of unemployed youths at camps set up to register names under the ‘Banglar Yuva Sathi’ scheme, launched by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal to provide a direct cash benefit of Rs 1,500 per month ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls, have exposed the grim unemployment scenario in the state.
The camps, functioning across all 294 Assembly constituencies in Bengal since Sunday, are also accepting new applications for other state government welfare schemes for women and farmers.
From Kakdwip in the remote southern part of West Bengal to Kalimpong in Darjeeling in the extreme northern region of the state, all camps were flooded with applications from Madhyamik pass-outs to PhD scholars till Monday afternoon. Many applicants said they would not have stood in long queues for a paltry Rs 1,500 had there been adequate job opportunities in the state.
“There is no scope for jobs in Bengal, and we have rushed to the camps to register our names for a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 under the scheme. We wouldn’t have waited in line if we had job opportunities,” said several applicants.
Standing in a queue at the Chinsurah camp in Hooghly district, Tuhin Kumar Nath, a PhD scholar in Physics, told reporters, “My father is a retired government employee. I have come here to enlist my name under the scheme so that the allowance will be useful for my family.”
Chandrima Maiti Chakraborty, a humanities graduate waiting in a long queue in Tamluk in East Midnapore district, said, “I am here at the camp today because I have not secured a job in my state so far.”
In Rampurhat in Birbhum district, Binapani Devi, an elderly woman, said her son had gone out of the state in search of employment and had asked her to collect the form on his behalf.
“My son asked me to collect the form for him. Even getting Rs 1,500 will provide some relief from the acute financial crunch. But yes, a job is more preferable than an unemployment allowance,” she said.
Educated unemployed youths also raised concerns, asking how the government had classified Madhyamik pass-outs as “educated unemployed.” They argued that recognising candidates who have only passed the state board’s Class X examination as educated unemployed appears inappropriate.
Around 6.7 lakh boys and girls have already submitted applications for the scheme, under which jobless youths aged 21 to 40 years will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 for a maximum period of five years.
The cash-strapped state government will have to allocate an additional Rs 5,000 crore in the current financial year 2026–27 for the scheme.
The camps, which will function from 10 am to 5 pm every day until February 26, are also receiving applications for the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ direct benefit transfer scheme for women, as well as the Krishak Bandhu and farm labourer allowance initiatives.
The Trinamool Congress leadership said, “Lakhs of youths queued at camps across the state, and things passed off smoothly everywhere. One or two stray incidents in such a large state do not reflect the overall situation.”