The Bengal government has decided to increase the number of Bangla Sahayata Kendra (BSK) outlets across the state, government sources said.

They informed that the decision was taken after the state earned Rs 303 crore revenue from BSK centres last year – a jump of 79 per cent compared to the previous year. The state government has been running BSK centres for several years now. Earlier, people could only apply for government schemes and services at these centres. But, from 2023, the state government allowed BSKs to conduct financial transactions. People can now pay electricity and other bills at the BSKs.

The sources further said that there are 3,561 BSKs in the state, and “in 2025, the number of BSKs may increase to 4,000.”

“From 2021, we started the Duare Sarkar project. People accepted that project very positively. We realised time is a constraint for many people… BSKs became popular after the financial transactions were allowed. A person who used to stand in long queues for paying his electricity bill, can now visit a BSK near his home and clear the bill in five minutes. They can also apply for Aadhaar card and many other government services from a BSK,” a source said.

According to the state government, 1 crore 39 lakh people have availed services in the BSKs in the last two years. Among them, 25 lakh people are from the Scheduled Caste category and around seven lakh from Other Backward Classes. BSK services were most availed in East Burdwan and East Midnapore districts last year.