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Kolkata: Long queues formed outside camp offices across Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) offices as thousands of young residents rushed to enrol in the Banglar Yuva Sathi scheme. Launched by the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the scheme provides a Rs 1,500 monthly allowance to unemployed individuals aged 21 to 40 for up to five years, or until they find work. 

Funds are to be directly transferred into beneficiaries’ bank accounts starting April 1.

Similar crowds have been replicated across West Bengal, as people gather at camp offices in both urban centres and rural blocks. Although the government introduced an online application portal to manage the load, physical attendance remains high. 

The numbers in which people have turned up tell a sobering story. 

People queue up to enrol in Banglar Yuva Sathi scheme in Kolkata, West Bengal. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar

Applications reportedly exceeded 50 lakh within a week of announcement, a figure that reads less as a welfare milestone and more as a stark indicator of youth unemployment. Backed by a Rs 5,000 crore allocation, the scheme expands a governance model increasingly defined by direct cash transfers.

On Monday, over 22,000 people visited Kolkata camps. At Rishi Aurobindo Park in Tollygunge, dozens of counters were manned by nearly a hundred volunteers from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

However, the demographic profile of the applicants reveals a troubling disconnect between education and economic opportunity.

“After so much education, it feels embarrassing to stand in line for an allowance. What was the point of studying? But when I see it’s not just students like me. Even PhD holders are here, it feels like this is money we........

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