The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday stood at a queue with common citizens to get her Swasthya Sathi card. Interestingly, the day also marked the TMC supremo’s 66th birthday.
She was seen standing in a line with other people in the Kalighat area of Kolkata to get her card without any VIP treatment from a Kolkata Municipal Corporation distribution centre.
Swasthya Sathi is a flagship scheme launched by the TMC government, provides health cover of up to ₹5 lakh per annum to a family for secondary and tertiary care.
The TMC chief, accompanied by Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and other government officials, arrived at Joy Hind Bhavan, close to her residence on Harish Chatterjee Street, around 11.45 a.m., to collect the card.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government is giving has been providing Swasthya Sathi smart cards as a part of the ‘Duare Sarkar’ campaign – a mass outreach programme to deliver several governning scheme benefits to Bengal’s citizens.
Mr. Hakim, while talking to reporters, said that the Chief Minister stood in the queue like any ordinary person to collect the card.
“It goes on to show that she is one among the people of the State,” he stated.
The CM on January 4 urged all Ministers of her government to collect the card.
“I will keep this card in my archive. I urge other Ministers, too, to join the scheme,” she had said.
However, party president of BJP in West Bengal Dilip Ghosh called Mamata Banerjee’s move as a “pure drama” to earn voters’ sympathy ahead of the Bengal election later this year.
With agency inputs