The Mamata Banerjee government has issued an order asking all the state-run buses to pull up at locations near the Karmatirthas and Pathasathis, a majority of which have been non-starters, in a bid to generate more footfall at these government facilities.

The state government had set up 70 Pathasathis along the national and state highways to offer passengers motel-like facilities during road trips.

Similarly, Karmatirthas or shopping complexes — where youths were supposed to get shops free of cost — were set up to tackle the problem of unemployment in the state.

But neither venture has seen much success in Bengal.

“None of them (the Pathasathis) could be made fully functional as proper services could not be provided. The state wants to run the establishments by engaging self-help groups. This is why buses have been asked to pull up near Pathasathis so that these facilities get footfall,” said an official.

In case of the Karmatirthas, an official said there were no takers for “nearly 11,000 shops” in these complexes.

Primary findings by government agencies have revealed that as these units are located outside the busy marketplaces, at more isolated places, there has not been any interest among youths to get the shops in these complexes.

“This is why the government is trying to ensure more footfall in the complexes by asking buses to give stoppages in front of them,” said a source.

According to sources in the government, Nabanna will give special focus to make these units functional as they have the potential to generate income opportunities. “The self-help groups consist of 10-12 women (each, on an average). So, if Pathasathis are made functional, nearly 700-800 women could be given an income opportunity. Rural areas where these units are set up will witness a boost in economy once these units get functional,”said a senior official.

In the case of Karmatirthas, there is an opportunity to employ as many as 11,000 youths by distributing shops.

“The main target is to create jobs in the state as the chief minister had promised 1.5 crore employment opportunities in the state ahead of Assembly polls,” said another official.

Some officials said that the failure of these facilities set up over the last decade exposed the lacuna in the state's hands-off land policy. “As the state refused to buy or acquire land near marketplaces for these, they had to be set up in isolated places where the state had plots. This has clearly backfired,” an official said.