Kolkata, Nov 4 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday announced 7,190 fresh appointments in the state Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Department, saying the recruitment would help accelerate rural development activities, particularly the implementation of the Centre’s 125-day rural employment scheme.

Adhikari made the announcement after chairing an urgent review meeting with block development officers (BDOs) at the department’s headquarters in Salt Lake, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

The meeting focused on the block-wise progress of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VG-RAM-G scheme.

“The new recruitment will be completed by April 2027, and new rules will be introduced to ensure transparency in the process. The West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) will conduct the recruitment,” the Chief Minister said.

The meeting was attended by Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh, Minister of State Santanu Pramanik and Agriculture Minister Dudhkumar Mondal.

Reviewing the employment scheme, Adhikari said 22 lakh people were currently being provided work in the state every day. He said more than Rs 13,000 crore had been earmarked for the project, with the Centre contributing Rs 8,000 crore and the state government providing around Rs 5,000 crore.

“The Union government has already released Rs 1,200 crore in the first phase. Around 10 lakh new job cards have been issued. We are confident of meeting the target set by the Union government. Work has begun, and so far we have generated 65.62 lakh man-days,” Adhikari said.

The Chief Minister also claimed that around 31 lakh fake job card holders had been identified from the period of the previous Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee.

He said the suspected fake beneficiaries came to light during the linking of job cards with Aadhaar numbers. Some of them had also received payments under the rural employment programme, he added.

“While these fake job card holders have been identified, 10 lakh new job cards have been issued to genuine beneficiaries,” Adhikari said.

The proposed recruitment is expected to strengthen the department’s workforce as the state steps up implementation of the 125-day employment programme.

–IANS

src/snj/skp