Trinamool claims Tamil Nadu’s new outreach scheme inspired by Bengal initiative

The Trinamool Congress leadership has claimed that the Tamil Nadu government’s recently launched ‘Namma Ooru, Namma Arasu’ initiative was inspired by West Bengal’s ‘Amader Para Amader Samadhan’ (APAS) programme.

“Bengal leads, India follows! Tamil Nadu has launched ‘Namma Ooru, Namma Arasu’ (Our village, our government), inspired by Bengal’s pathbreaking ‘Amader Para Amader Samadhan’ (Our neighbourhood, our resolution)…,” the Trinamool Congress posted on social media platform X.

The APAS campaign, announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in July 2025, is a flagship initiative aimed at institutionalising participatory governance. The West Bengal government has allocated ₹10 lakh for every polling booth and a total of ₹8,000 crore for the 80,000 polling booths across the State.

Under this initiative, 27,000 APAS camps have been set up across West Bengal. In a series of social media posts, the Trinamool Congress described Ms. Banerjee as a “visionary who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way,” adding that “what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow”.

Tamil Nadu has recently launched its ‘Namma Ooru Namma Arasu’ scheme, which took centre stage on Saturday when Chief Minister M.K. Stalin virtually addressed 10,000 Gram Sabha meetings. Under the initiative, Gram Sabha resolutions are to be tracked and implemented across the State.

The Trinamool government, led by Ms. Banerjee, has previously launched outreach programmes such as Duare Sarkar (government at doorstep), which it described as an “astounding success”. Ms. Banerjee is also credited with introducing the Kanyashree scheme, which provides financial assistance to school-going girls. The Trinamool leadership has claimed that the Union government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme was inspired by Kanyashree.

While questions remain about the impact of some of these schemes, particularly in light of West Bengal continuing to report one of the highest instances of child marriage, the State government under the Trinamool Congress has rolled out over 50 social welfare schemes. Ms. Banerjee has often said her administration has “schemes that can come to the aid of an individual from birth to death”.