Kolkata: In a first in Bengal, 325 people imprisoned during the 1975 Emergency were conferred the Paschimbanga Loktantra Senani Samman by the state govt on Sunday. CM Suvendu Adhikari handed over the honour at a special programme at Nabanna.Loktantra Senani Samman is a state-level honour and pension scheme in the country to recognise and facilitate those who were imprisoned under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) or Defence of India Rules (DIR) during the Emergency from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977.In West Bengal, the recipients will receive a monthly honorarium allowance of Rs 10,000, a medical allowance of Rs 1,000, medical facilities at all govt hospitals and free travel on govt buses.Paying his respect to all soldiers of the second war of independence, Adhikari said the new govt was built on the ideals of those who had made sacrifices for the country. “About one lakh people were jailed across the country and at least 5,000 of them were from Bengal. We decided at the first cabinet meeting that we would honour Loktantra Senanis who spent time in jail. This is a token honorarium, our new generation should know about your sacrifices for the country,” he said.Adhikari said the information and cultural affairs department could not have taken this initiative “unless Loktantra Senani Sangha had helped us”.Vijay Addhya, one of the recipients of the Samman, said: “Emergency started on June 25, 1975. We term it as the second independence struggle. The entire country had turned into a sort of jail.”On the occasion, Adhikari also remembered the contribution of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, saying attempts were made in the past to erase nationalism and patriotism. “We are working on plans to include the ideals of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the school textbook syllabus,” he said.In 2008, Madhya Pradesh became the first state to launch Loktantra Senani Samman Nidhi under CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Later, several BJP-governed states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam and Odisha followed suit.
