Over 4 lakh attended 'Amader Para, Amader Samadhan' camps in 3 days: Bengal chief secy

Kolkata, Aug 4 (PTI) Over 4 lakh people have attended 1,200 camps under the ‘Amader Para Amader Samadhan’ (APAS) initiative, the West Bengal government’s flagship grassroots outreach programme, since its launch on August 1, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said on Monday.

The Rs 8,000-crore outreach programme was announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on July 22 to address local issues, like setting up street lamps, repairing roads and ensuring water supply across districts.

"The camps are getting a very encouraging response with over 4 lakh people having attended those so far. People are flagging specific issues which are being followed up," Pant told reporters.

"The issues being raised include infrastructure concerns — roads, drainage, water supply, and street lighting. Information related to social welfare schemes and ICDS is also being shared," Pant said.

"The involvement of people has been immense," he added.

To a question about the number of complaints and nature of complaints received, he said, "We are still in the process of compiling as requirements vary from camp to camp." On August 1, the day the programme was launched, 632 APAS camps were set up across the state.

The CM had explained that the initiative would work as a platform for residents to "deliberate, identify, and prioritise" infrastructure needs in their areas.

"An APAS camp is a platform where local people shall deliberate, identify and prioritise their local level infrastructure needs. Rs 8,000+ crore is the outlay for APAS with Rs 10 lakh allocated per booth and 80,000-plus polling booths being covered by 27,000-plus camps," Banerjee had added. PTI SUS MNB