Siliguri, May 13: Voters in Bengal are being asked to hand over a 20-point “people’s manifesto” to panchayat candidates, who must promise to meet the demands if they win the elections.

West Bengal Education Network, an NGO headquartered at Golpark in Calcutta and working in 15 districts of the state, has published the manifesto and handed it to voters to get specific commitments from the candidates.

The demands include proper functioning of government health centres, publication of details of the 100-day work scheme, funds to help poor students, arsenic free water, electricity, regular vaccination of poultry and public toilets in marketplaces.

“We want to mount pressure on candidates so that they work to meet the expectations of the voters by implementing government schemes in villages,” Swapan Panda, the convener of Network, said. He added that the organisation is targeting 200-250 panchayat candidates in each district.

The manifesto, published in Bengali and Hindi, is being handed over to candidates with signatures of voters and members of various NGOs working with Network. “The candidates must sign underneath, giving an undertaking that, if elected, they will work to fulfil the demands,” said Victor Basu, the secretary of Dooars Jagaran, an NGO working with Network in Jalpaiguri district.

Basu said the manifesto would be submitted to candidates in the brew belt.

“I read the manifesto and found nothing irrational in it. I have thus accepted it,” said a panchayat candidate in a tea garden who signed the undertaking.

The voters are excited about the experiment. “Once the panchayats are formed, we will remind the winning candidates about their commitments and challenge them if they shirk from their responsibilities,” Mongra Munda of Kanthalguri Tea Estate said.