At G20, CM Mamata Banerjee showcases West Bengal’s ‘inclusive growth’ | Kolkata News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in her address to international delegates at the first G20 presidency meeting in Kolkata on Monday, stressed on the importance of inclusivity and highlig-hted her government’s “inclusive model of growth” and a belief in giving a “humane face to development”.
Inclusivity strengthened, whereas divisiveness weakened a nation, the CM said. She told the delegates the parties in office at the Centre and the state were different, but each needed to work for the people. Stressing on unity in diversity, she said India had stayed united despite differences in religions, castes and languages.
Speaking at a meeting on financial inclusion, Banerjee said people were always a priority for her and her government. Bengal, she said, had created jobs when unemployment rates were high because of the pandemic, as the gov-ernment’s main plank was MSMEs. Because of that, she claimed, Bengal had been “able to create 12 million jobs”. The state, she told the delegates, had been able to reduce poverty by 40%, crediting this partly to self-help groups run by women.
“We gave more power to women, self-help groups – particularly that of women, farmers, artisans and stud-ents through different schemes,” the CM said, highlighting the government’s social welfare schemes. “We gave smartphones, books, bicycles, school bags and shoes to students. We provided free food to people to fight against hunger. Social security for all is our goal, ranging from food to treatment, including critical care of kidney and heart diseases, and also direct bank transfer of financial aid to all women who are not working.”
Referring to Lakshmir Bhandar as the “world’s largest financial inclusive programme,” the CM said: “All women (in Bengal) are very proud, they are not asking (for) anything from anywhere due to this direct bank transfer. We have transferred $1.5 billion, as this is the largest programme in the world. This is a huge boost for Bengal’s women.”
‘Our goal is empowerment without discrimination’
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee mentioned the UN’s recognition of Bengal’s Kanyashree scheme in 2017 at The Hague. She said girl students get scholarships at all levels under the scheme. “Students, irrespective of religion, have a scholarship facility,” she said.
Referring to Duare Sarkar, the CM said: “We are searching for people to serve them,” mentioning the Central award for the governance scheme. Banerjee said empowering all citizens was her goal, without discrimination, so they could be self-sufficient. “I don’t discriminate…. all are equal to me.” She advised delegates to visit Eco Park, near the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, the venue of Monday’s G20 programme, and reminded everyone present that Kolkata was the “cultural capital” of India. She also urged people to visit Bengal for holidays, saying it was the gateway to several countries, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar and also to Northeast India.

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