The West Bengal government on Wednesday released application forms for the proposed Annapurna Scheme, under which eligible women will receive ₹3,000 per month as financial assistance.
The forms were formally released at a programme in Howrah, where Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the initiative is aimed at ensuring a “clean and accurate” identification of beneficiaries so that welfare support reaches only those who are genuinely eligible.
Addressing a press conference, Adhikari said the scheme was part of the BJP’s election promise and was designed to strengthen women’s economic independence through direct financial assistance. He said the government intended to build a transparent database of beneficiaries through a structured application process.
He also raised concerns over what he described as irregularities in the distribution of existing welfare benefits, alleging that around 30 lakh people who have neither applied under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) nor approached the tribunal are currently receiving state financial assistance.
“These benefits are meant only for eligible citizens. The objective is to compile a clean and accurate list to ensure that support reaches the right people,” he said.
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Adhikari added that the application forms would collect detailed personal and family information of applicants. This, he said, would help the administration not only in selecting beneficiaries for the Annapurna Scheme but also in designing and implementing other welfare programmes in a more targeted manner in the future.
He further said that the verification and implementation process would involve the entire administrative machinery, including the Chief Secretary and the Finance Secretary, to ensure proper scrutiny and transparency at every stage of beneficiary selection.
According to him, the data-driven approach would help reduce duplication and eliminate ineligible beneficiaries from welfare rolls, thereby strengthening the efficiency of government schemes.
The Annapurna Yojana is being positioned as a replacement for the existing Lakshmi Bhandar Scheme, under which women from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households currently receive ₹1,200 per month, while women from other categories receive ₹1,000.
The new scheme, once implemented, is expected to significantly increase monthly financial assistance to women beneficiaries, marking a major expansion in direct cash transfer-based welfare support in the state.
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