Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. file | Photo Credit: ANI
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that her government believes in development with a human face. “Without a human face, no government can function. Our social security (schemes) are the main thrust,” he told delegates at the G-20 meeting held in Kolkata.
The Chief Minister said that his government was providing free food grains to the population of the State as well as providing free scholarship to all the girl children of the State. “Education is free, health is free and scholarship is free,” he said.
Ms Banerjee said that during her rule, her state’s GDP has grown four times and her government has been able to create 12 million jobs. He said that the focus of his government has been women empowerment and small and medium enterprises sector. “We have launched the ‘Aapke Dwar Par Sarkar’ (government at your doorstep) program to ensure that people get the benefits of our development initiatives. The program won a national award,” she said.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said, “Is this my third term and I have served as an MP seven times.” Speaking about the state’s locational advantage, Ms Banerjee said that West Bengal is the gateway to the country’s northeastern states as well as the South East Asian countries.
“India’s government is run by different political party and our government is run by a different political party,” she said, adding that she wanted to see the country self-reliant.
He urged the delegates to enjoy the hospitality of Kolkata and urged them to visit the city again and reap the benefits.
The G-20 meeting was attended by 12 international speakers, including officials from the World Bank, Singapore, France and the Monetary Authority of Estonia. The meeting focused on an exhibition on digital innovations to advance financial inclusion and a session on the role of digital public infrastructure in financial inclusion.
Saurabh Garg, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are among those who addressed the session at the meeting.