Overview

• The hospital said Tuesday it is carrying out the second phase of the National Mental Health Survey across seven West Bengal districts in coordination with the state health department and NIMHANS, using a questionnaire validated by the WHO.
• Mamata Banerjee alleged the survey is a covert attempt to collect NRC-related data and urged residents to refuse doorstep questionnaires unless verified with the state government.
• She assigned Pradip Majumdar to lead rural outreach, Firhad Hakim to oversee urban campaigns, and Aroop Biswas to brief MLAs to alert their constituencies.
• Following the Cabinet meeting, Banerjee announced a Rs 5,000 monthly stipend for 12 months for returning migrant workers under the Shramashree initiative, with the Labour Department as the nodal agency.
• A senior state health official warned the dispute could jeopardize central funding for the survey, while a BJP MLA from Kalyani rejected any NRC link and called the exercise routine public health research.