Murshidabad leads, Kurseong last in Yuva Sathi applications on 1st 2 days

Kolkata: With 1.6 lakh registrations out of around 12 lakh across the state till Monday, Murshidabad is leading the Bengal districts in Yuva Sathi applications. Kalimpong, with 3,700 applications, sits at the bottom of the list.Purulia, Bankura, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly and East Midnapore are among the districts that have recorded a high number of registrations for the Bengal govt scheme, which was rolled out on Sunday.
Online registration for the scheme started on Monday. Those willing to enrol online can log onto https://apas.wb.gov.in/ and apply by entering their mobile numbers and uploading the required documents.Under the scheme, unemployed youths who have cleared at least the Class X board exams and are between 21 and 40 years will be given a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 for five years or till they get a job, whichever is earlier. The payout starts on April 1.In Murshidabad, sources said, 1,55,380 youths registered at five camps in Berhampore, Lalbag, Domkal, Kandi, and Jangipur on the first two days. On Day 1 (Sunday), the district received over 77,000 applications.However, neighbouring Malda saw only 13,805 applications on Sunday — 19th among the 23 districts. While numbers there increased on Monday, those remained far behind Murshidabad's.Altogether, 1,604 registration camps are being held in 294 assembly constituencies across the state. TurnNabanna officials said 1,604 registration camps in 294 assembly constituencies across the state received around 12 lakh offline applications for the Yuva Sathi allowance till 5pm on Monday. Online registrations totaled 9,000.Sreejeeta Paul, who is preparing to be a Chartered Accountant, was among those who stood in a queue at a camp at Raja Subodh Mullick Square in central Kolkata. "This money will help me pay my phone bills and take care of sundry small expenses," said the resident of Doctors' Lane in north Kolkata."This scheme will be of immense help to those of us who are trying to continue our education while shouldering financial burden," said Shalu Pandey, 22, from Burrabazar.Rashbehari MLA Debasis Kumar, who has been overseeing multiple camps in Kolkata, said, "Everyone will benefit from the scheme, irrespective of political affiliation or social background. Those who are highly educated but have yet to get a job will find this scheme particularly useful."The rollout, however, has led to a political slugfest, with unemployment at the heart of the confrontation. BJP alleged that the scheme was a part of Trinamool's poll strategy. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh hit back, saying, "Who is BJP to lecture on employment? Where are the 2 crore jobs they promised? Has anyone you know secured a central govt job?"(With inputs from Sukumar Mahato in Berhampore)