Annapurna Yojana: Over 28 lakh women receive ₹3000 into their bank accounts in West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the state government has formally commenced the disbursal of financial assistance under the Annapurna Yojana on Wednesday, June 3.

While speaking at state secretariat Nabanna, Adhikari said that the government has transferred funds directly into the bank accounts of as many as 28,25,769 beneficiaries during the first phase of the scheme.

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The transfer was carried out in the presence of state ministers Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Kshudiram Tudu and Ashok Kirtania, marking the formal rollout of one of the state government’s flagship welfare programmes.

Under the financial assistance scheme for women, eligible beneficiaries will be receiving ₹3,000 every month.

Adhikari shared that financial assistance will continue to be released on a rolling basis as the verification of applications is completed and additional beneficiaries are enrolled.

Further, he said that applicants covered under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), as well as voters whose cases remain pending before tribunals, would remain eligible for the time being to avail themselves of the scheme’s benefits.

This comes after the West Bengal government started the process of distributing application forms on May 27 through an extensive door-to-door campaign across the state.

During household visits by government personnel, all the eligible beneficiaries were assisted in filling up and submitting the forms, ensuring that eligible applicants were not excluded from the scheme. Forms were also made available at sub-divisional and block development offices for those wishing to apply in person. In addition to the offline process, applications were allowed to be submitted through an online portal.

Adhikari said that all urban and local bodies would facilitate the distribution and filling up of the forms. He added that the decision to issue fresh forms was aimed at ensuring that individuals who may have been removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls do not end up receiving benefits under the scheme.

“We ensure that only eligible women get the benefits of this scheme. We don’t want foreigners to get financial benefits from the government,” Adhikari said.

A key feature of the programme is a dedicated website through which people can access the list of beneficiaries at every polling booth across the state. Citizens can also raise objections regarding the eligibility of any beneficiary through the portal.

Officials said every complaint submitted on the website would automatically trigger an investigation, while appropriate action would be taken wherever discrepancies or irregularities are detected.

The state government emphasised the transparency measures incorporated into the scheme. Apart from making beneficiary lists publicly accessible, the portal also carries the names and signatures of government employees who verified individual applications.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal said that such measures are unprecedented in the implementation of welfare schemes in the country. He noted that beneficiary lists have never before been made available for public scrutiny at the booth level, nor have the identities and verification records of government officials been disclosed alongside beneficiary data across the country.

“We want to bring about transparency at every level of welfare schemes launched by the state government,” Agarwal said.

Fresh applications for the scheme can be made online as well. For this, eligible women need to log into https://socialsecurity.wb.gov.in/login and apply online.