Mamata Banerjee writes to 18 CMs, seeks relief for WB people stuck amid COVID-19 lockdown

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Chief Minister of 18 states across the country in order to provide relief to the people of Bengal stuck in these states amid the 21-day lockdown imposed. The Bengal CM has requested to provide the people of her state with basic shelter, food and medical support during this period of crisis. In wake of the Coronavirus crisis, PM Narendra Modi had imposed 21-day lockdown across the country till April 14. 

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In her letter to the Chief Ministers, Mamata Banerjee said, "Bengal has many workers - semi-skilled and unskilled - working in different parts of the country. Due to complete lockdown in the country for COVID-19 pandemic, many Bengal workers could not travel back and are stuck at different places." Furthermore, she added, "We have received information that many such workers who are ordinarily resident of Bengal are stuck in your state too. We are getting SOS calls from them. They are generally in groups of 50-100 and can be easily identified by the local administration."

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The Bengal CM also stated that the state's Chief Secretary would pass on the details of such people to hasten up the process of humanitarian support in this hour of crisis. 

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Unemployment benefit

The Chief Minister had earlier announced that a 'Procheshta Scheme' has been launched under which the people who have lost their income will get Rs 1,000. The people who wish to get assistance under the scheme will need to apply from April 15 to April 30. "The government will be giving free ration to the poor for the next six months," Banerjee had said.

Mamata Banerjee has also asked people to maintain distance between each other in public places like outside grocery shops and banks to avoid chances of contraction to the Coronavirus. She appealed to the print media to distribute newspapers to the hawkers from their vehicle itself and "not keep the piles of newspapers on the road." The CM reiterated her call for social distancing and asked people to voluntarily sign up for testing should they have a recent travel history abroad.

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