Kolkata, Jul 1 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said the first tranche of funds under the Annapurna Yojana, a direct cash transfer scheme for women, was credited to the accounts of nearly 1.1 crore beneficiaries of the state.
Adhikari said that while about 1.6 crore applications were received for the scheme, 26 lakh of them were rejected on grounds of deaths, doubts over citizenship and domicile status, deletion from voter rolls and multiple account-holding beneficiaries.
The total number of approved beneficiaries in Bengal whose data have been uploaded on the scheme’s portal currently stands at around 1.3 crore, Adhikari said, adding that those who are yet to receive the money will have funds transferred by the end of the day.
“The scrutiny and filter were necessary since we cannot transfer taxpayers’ money from the government coffers to non-Indians,” Adhikari said at the official launch of the scheme at Netaji Indoor Stadium, where he handed over certificates to a section of beneficiaries.
“We will not discontinue the existing welfare schemes of the government and will not deprive any eligible applicants of their rights. We will fulfil every guarantee offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today, we have moved a step closer in achieving them,” he added.
The Annapurna Yojana was introduced by the BJP government to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 to eligible women, replacing the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ programme of the previous TMC regime.
In its budget presented on June 22 for the remaining nine months of the 2026-27 fiscal, the state allocated Rs 36,000 crore for the Annapurna Yojana and declared a slew of other women-centric welfare measures.
The Women, Child Development and Social Welfare Department received the highest allocation of Rs 52,308 crore in the budget, largely on account of the direct cash transfer scheme for women.
“The Annapurna beneficiaries include over 26.5 lakh women belonging to the scheduled caste category, nearly 5 lakh scheduled tribe women and more than 1.2 lakh Gorkha community women in the Darjeeling hills,” the CM declared, and said that about 8.15 lakh names were included on the basis of applications made at the Jan Kalyan camps recently organised by the government.
He added that Bangladeshi refugees, who have applied for citizenship under the CAA and those who have moved the SIR-linked tribunals challenging their name deletion from electoral rolls, have also been retained as Annapurna scheme beneficiaries until their applications are disposed of by the respective bodies.
“Out of the nearly two crore beneficiaries of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme of the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government, some 10 lakh fund recipients were men who have now been removed,” Adhikari said, justifying the rejection of the large volume of applications.
He referred to the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna to provide financial compensation for wage loss to pregnant and lactating mothers and improved nutrition to mothers and infants, and declared that the state would add Rs 16,000 to the Centre’s Rs 5,000 and provide a one-time financial assistance of Rs 21,000 to the vulnerable group.
“Starting August, we will provide five nutritional kits to mothers from state-run hospitals,” the CM said.
Adhikari said that the state would soon launch Pink Cards to replace the current zero-value ticketing system for free rides for women in state-run buses.
He also reiterated the state’s special one-time financial assistance programme of Rs 50,000 to unmarried female students studying in government and government-aided colleges to encourage them to pursue higher education and prevent dropouts. For which Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated in the state budget.
Speaking of ensuring women’s safety in public spaces, the chief minister highlighted the newly established commission to investigate atrocities against women and girls, which is chaired by retired Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Samapti Chatterjee and has IPS officer Damayanti Sen as its member secretary.
“I urge victims to register their complaints before the commission which has been formed to deal with unresolved cases of crimes against women like the ones which took place at Park Street and Kamduni. I assure you that the accused will be jailed. The government will have the properties of the perpetrators attached to make them pay for their crimes,” he said.
“There will be no more repetition of incidents like Abhaya (RG Kar victim) or South Calcutta Law College. The victims of Hanskhali, Kaliagunj, Moynaguri and Rampurhat will get justice on account of the measures we have introduced,” he added.
Adhikari announced that the emergency helpline number 112 will be launched on Mahalaya, ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations in October.
“Every police station will have a dedicated vehicle which will be used to resolve complaints in quick time. The response time of police reaching a crime scene after a complaint is made is six minutes in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
“In Bengal, the police currently take an average of three hours to do the same job. We hope to drastically curtail the response time of the police once the 112 helpline is introduced,” the CM said.
He also announced the introduction of a dedicated women’s help desk in all police stations from July 2, and the setting up of women police stations in all sub-divisions, specialised Durga Suraksha squads consisting of women officers for patrolling busy city areas and public spaces, soon.
In addition, two all-women battalions, named after Matangini Hazra and Rani Shiromani, will be established in the state reserve police force, Adhikari added. PTI SCH SMY BDC SMY
