KOLKATA: From Duare Chikitsa (healthcare at your doorstep) and creation of seven new districts in Bengal to making the state’s economy the third largest in India in the next 10 years, CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday released Trinamool’s manifesto for the 2026 Bengal elections with 10 promises.The seven new districts will be Kandi, Behrampore, Bishnupur, Sundarbans, Ranaghat, Ichhamati and Basirhat, according to the manifesto. Currently, the state has 23 districts. The other promises included a pucca house for all Bengali families and provision of drinking water to all.
‘Duare Chikitsa’, closely modeled on the party-run health camps, Sebashray, introduced by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in his Diamond Harbor Lok Sabha constituency, will debut as annual state-run health camps in every block and city for effective delivery of home healthcare. The party will also establish fair price medicine shops in all health centers at the block level.Banerjee said, “Every year, in each block, Duare camps will be held – Duare Swastha (Chikitsa). We have Swasthya Sathi card, medical camps, multi-super specialty hospitals and mother and child centres. That is why the institutional delivery rate is now 99.5%, which was not more than 60% earlier. And 250-300 ICU type vehicles have been developed with funds of the MPLAD”.While criticizing the Center for blocking Bengal quotas, the manifesto said TMC aimed to “position Bengal as India’s third largest economy in the next 10 years and build a Rs 40 lakh crore economy in the next five years, sustaining double-digit growth and accelerating investments across sectors.”The manifesto also noted that TMC aimed to “establish Bengal as India’s trade gateway for eastern India by developing the Global Trade Centre, expanding river and deep sea port networks and creating modern logistics hubs to boost exports and generate high-quality employment.”Around 25 cities (Howrah, Diamond Harbour, Bardhaman, Durgapur, Bolpur, Krishnanagar, Barasat, Raiganj, Siliguri, Behrampore, Malda, Kalyani, Srirampur, Andal, Bankura, Purulia, Digha, Midnapore, Jhargram, NKDA area, Gangarampur, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Darjeeling) will be developed as model cities with state-of-the-art urban infrastructure under the Mission Mahanagar programme.The manifesto also mentions a Contract Workers Policy to include all contract workers registered under the Bina Mulya Samajik Suraksha Yojana (BM-SSY) to ensure social security and institutional protection.The CM said, “The Modi government had promised 2 crore employment every year, but instead, unemployment has increased nationally by 40%. In Bengal, unemployment has reduced by 40%. Nationally, more people have fallen below the poverty line, while in Bengal, we have lifted 1 crore 75 lakh people out of poverty.”He added, “For the youth, we have the Yuba Sathi scheme, which provides Rs 1,500 per month (Rs 18,000 per year) to 1 crore youth between the ages of 21 and 40, irrespective of whether they receive any scholarship.”To monitor the last mile work, the manifesto stated that the West Bengal High Performance Delivery Unit will be established to monitor and evaluate service delivery.
