The West Bengal government has formally notified a job scheme for families affected by political violence over the past two and a half decades. A notification issued on Sunday, November 1, confirms that the state will provide Group D employment to one dependent family member of each person who lost their life in political clashes since 2001.

Source: Mirror Now

The notification follows an announcement by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at a public event in Garbeta, Paschim Medinipur, on October 31, where he asked affected families to submit their applications to their respective District Magistrates and said the state would make these one-time appointments outside the standard recruitment process.

Who can apply, and how applications will be checked

Under the notification, signed by Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, a family qualifies if its total monthly income does not exceed Rs 50,000. The eligible applicants are the spouse, son, daughter or third-gender child of the deceased; where the victim was unmarried, a brother or sister may be considered under specific conditions.

Applicants must provide documents including the original First Information Report (FIR) related to the incident, the death certificate of the victim and proof of their relationship to the deceased. A screening committee chaired by the District Magistrate and including the Superintendent of Police will review and vet each application.

The scheme's 25-year scope spans the final years of the Left Front administration and the subsequent Trinamool Congress years, a period in which political violence — often reported around panchayat election cycles — remained a recurring point of contention in the state. The proposal had earlier been reported as cleared by the state Cabinet and the Law Department before Sunday's formal notification.

Source: The Daily Jagran (News18 report)