Launched by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, social welfare schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree, Sabuj Sathi, Rupasree and several others have helped the ruling TMC secure the third term in the 2021 Assembly elections. The party believes that the popularity of these schemes also helped it win 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the just concluded general elections.

According to the government’s July 8 notification, the PMU will be headed by secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development Department P Ulganathan.

Ulganathan, a 2006 batch IAS officer, is considered close to TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s second in command.

“In the run-up to the Assembly elections, the government wants to implement these schemes more aggressively and efficiently. That is why the monitoring unit has been set up,” a senior TMC leader said.

According to the government, the PMU has been set up for “close monitoring of priority schemes/projects in coordination with different departments, implementing agencies and district administration, for timely execution and evaluation”.

The unit will have officials and staff members from the Panchayats and Rural Development Department with all other departments, implementing agencies, and district administration providing it with all the necessary information and cooperation for “effective monitoring” of the schemes.

The PMU, which will give regular feedback and suggestions to the government, has been tasked with tracking the progress of the schemes “on key indicators as per timeline, assessing resolution to public grievances and evaluation of the outcome for achieving the set objectives”.

“It will collect data/inputs from various departments/agencies and districts for proper analysis, reviews and speedy implementation… Provide regular reports and feedback on the performance of various schemes being implemented by different departments to the government,” the notification said.

A senior official said, “This will really help the government to implement these projects successfully and enable the benefits to reach all the people of the society.”

“The PMU will analyse the data that will be given by different departments and complaints received by the Chief Minister’s office and other departments. It will also take feedback from district administration on problems in implementing such projects. The unit will give necessary suggestions to the top brass of the state government,” said an official.