West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (May 27) announced that approximately 30 lakh current beneficiaries of a flagship cash transfer scheme for women in the state are ineligible.
Speaking at a press conference at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna, he released the official application forms for the new Annapurna Yojana scheme, which is set to replace the previous Trinamool Congress government’s ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ programme. The new initiative will significantly increase the monthly financial assistance for eligible women to Rs 3,000.
Database purge
According to the chief minister, a preliminary review revealed widespread discrepancies in the existing beneficiary list, which has around 2.20 crore women enrolled. Adhikari stated that the 30 lakh ineligible entries consist of deceased individuals, non-existent persons, or non-citizens whose names were permanently deleted from the state voter list. He clarified that the new administration expects the final number of genuine recipients to stabilise at around two crore.
“Our first notion was that the Lakshmir Bhandar list was verified,” Adhikari told reporters. “To ensure financial transparency, our Cabinet feels that only the West Bengal resident women who are eligible for the financial security assistance must get its benefit.”
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The chief minister emphasised that strict citizenship criteria would be enforced for the upgraded welfare program. He clarified that individuals who have registered under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or those who have appealed to a Special Institutional Reforms (SIR) linked tribunal after voter list adjudication would remain eligible for the benefits.
“We want those who are attached to the mainstream of the nation to get the benefit,” Adhikari said. “Keep in mind that only Indians will get this opportunity. India’s money is not meant for infiltrators coming from Bangladesh. This has been made very clear.”
The transition mechanism
To facilitate a smooth handover between the two welfare schemes, the state government will launch a comprehensive 90-day enrolment drive starting June 1. The application forms will be made available through both online and offline channels. In rural panchayat areas, state supervisors and local officials are scheduled to conduct a targeted 30-day door-to-door campaign to assist households with the paperwork.
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The state’s women and child development and social welfare department, led by Agnimitra Paul, will serve as the authority for the transition. The physical verification and data-cleansing process will be supervised directly by the state’s chief secretary and finance secretary, with district magistrates and municipal commissioners executing the drive on the ground.
Adhikari assured genuine beneficiaries that they would face no disruption in financial aid during the verification phase. The existing ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ payouts will continue uninterrupted until individual records are validated and transferred to the Annapurna system.
“Till their enrolment is completed, the beneficiaries will not be deprived of the Lakshmir Bhandar benefit,” Adhikari said, maintaining that the step reflects the promise of a humane government. “We are trying to ensure that those who successfully enrol by June 2 will have their funds transferred after the Cabinet meeting the next day through direct bank transfer.”
Additional welfare rollouts
The newly introduced data collection form has also been designed to gather broader family metrics, which the government intends to use to link low-income households with other central and state welfare initiatives. In addition to the monthly cash payout, the chief minister confirmed that women across the state will be entitled to free travel on state government undertaking buses starting Monday, with formal identity cards to be issued at a later stage.
The administration is also preparing for the rollout of the central government’s Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme in Bengal, which recently received state cabinet approval. The scheme will begin in Bengal from July. Adhikari noted that the existing state health scheme, ‘Swasthya Sathi’, will remain fully operational until the transition to the central healthcare framework is complete.
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