The Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal plans to popularise among migrant workers a loan scheme for residents of the state who intend to start a business.

This, Trinamul leaders said, would be done to discourage migrant workers from moving to other states for hazardous jobs.

As many as 21 migrant workers from Malda are reported to have died in Wednesday's under-construction railway bridge crash in Mizoram's Sairang near capital Aizawl. Two more are missing.

Sabina Yeasmin, the minister of state of the north Bengal development department and an MLA from the district, said on Thursday that from September 1, another edition of Duare Sarkar would be launched across Bengal where state officials would elaborate on the West Bengal Bhabishyat Credit Card Scheme (WBBCCS).

Yeasmin, who met bereaved families of the 21 migrant workers, said: “Any person, who wants to start a business, can avail the benefits of the scheme and get a loan up to Rs 5 lakh. We will promote this scheme across Malda (which has a high rate of migration) and also in other districts from where people have migrated to other states for jobs.”

“The idea is to elaborate on the benefits of the scheme which they can avail and start a business here, instead of going to far-flung areas for working and (often in hazardous jobs) risking their lives,” she added.

The deceased migrant workers were from four blocks of Malda. They and some others had left home one-and-a-half months ago to work on the railway project under a labour contractor.

The WBBCCS, floated by the state MSME and textiles department, has already gained popularity. It was announced in the budget of the current fiscal, and till June, the state had already received 70,000 applications.

In Malda, the administration received around 10,000 applications.

Nitin Singhania, the district magistrate of Malda, said: "The state has taken the initiative to bring the bodies from Mizoram to their villages. It seems the bodies will reach by Friday morning."

Rajya Sabha member Samirul Islam, Yeasmin and another minister of state Tazmul Hossain visited the bereaved families on Thursday.

“We have no words to console them. The chief minister is also shocked at the deaths. She personally deputed me to meet the families. The state will provide Rs 2 lakh as compensation to each next-of-kin and extend other help through social welfare schemes,” Islam, who also chairs the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board, said.

State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also met the bereaved families. He lambasted the state government over the lack of jobs and said the sum of compensation should be more. “The state seems to be least bothered about migrant workers," he said, alleging its apathy even during the pandemic.