Bengal clears government jobs for families of those killed in political violence

West Bengal will offer a state government job to one member of each family that lost someone to political or election-related violence over the past 25 years, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Friday, October 30.

The state cabinet has approved the scheme, a government official told the news agency IANS. A formal notification setting out who qualifies, and for which posts, has not yet been published.

What the scheme covers

According to IANS, the scheme applies to deaths in violence linked to panchayat, municipal, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, and is not limited to supporters or workers of any one party. The Bengali channel TV9 Bangla reported that it reaches back through both the Trinamool Congress government and the earlier Left Front government.

One designated family member per victim would be offered a state government job after verification. Age limits, educational requirements and the specific roles on offer are still to be announced, IANS reported.

How families will apply

Families will apply through their district administration, which will forward the papers to Nabanna, the state secretariat, TV9 Bangla reported. Officials will check each claim against police records, case files and death records. IANS said applications will pass through several levels of checking by local police stations, district officials and legal scrutineers, and that the Law Department has formally agreed to the framework.

Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal briefed district magistrates on Thursday at a video conference held mainly to review preparations for the census, and asked them to start identifying eligible families, according to IANS.

Background

Political violence has long been a feature of Bengal's elections. During this year's Assembly campaign, Adhikari promised a government job to one family member of each of 321 party workers who, the BJP says, were killed after the 2021 Assembly election. He made the pledge at a rally in Falta in May, NewsArena India reported. The BJP went on to win the election, and Adhikari became Chief Minister in May. The scheme now approved is wider than that pledge, covering a 25-year period and families of every party.

Reactions

BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar told TV9 Bangla that killings after elections had become routine in Bengal over the past 25 years, and that the decision would set an example. The brother of a man killed in violence after the 2021 election told the channel he welcomed a scheme that recognised families across party lines.

CPI(M) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya questioned why the 10 years of Left Front rule had been included, and alleged that the scheme was a backdoor route to give jobs to BJP workers. He said government recruitment should rest on merit.

Joynagar MP Pratima Mondal asked whether jobs given this way would last, pointing to a case in Haryana in which a victim's widow lost her job after a change of government. She also asked how permanent posts could be filled without a written or oral examination. The Trinamool Congress had not issued a formal response by Saturday evening.

What happens next

The government is expected to publish a notification and invite applications. The number of families likely to qualify has not been made public.