Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on May 27 claimed that nearly 30 lakh beneficiaries of the Lakshmir Bhandar direct benefit transfer scheme for women were ineligible, alleging that their names had either been permanently removed from the voter list or that they had failed to approach an SIR-linked tribunal or apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for inclusion. The BJP government has now replaced the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-era Lakshmir Bhandar scheme with the Annapurna Yojana, set to take effect from June 1.
Adhikari’s remarks came on the same day the Supreme Court upheld the legal validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while clarifying that the Election Commission’s determination in such matters is limited to electoral purposes and cannot be treated as a final decision on citizenship.
“We believed the Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiary list had already been verified. However, we received several complaints alleging that nearly 30 lakh people whose names were permanently removed from the voter list, or who neither applied for citizenship under the CAA nor approached a tribunal, were still receiving benefits. We will get a clearer picture once all the forms are received,” Adhikari said during a virtual press conference from Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters. At present, Lakshmir Bhandar has around 2.2 crore beneficiaries.
“Beneficiaries currently receiving assistance under Lakshmir Bhandar will continue to get financial support after submitting forms for the Annapurna Yojana and securing approval. The government’s primary aim is to prepare a clean beneficiary list for the Annapurna Yojana by identifying and removing ineligible names from the existing Lakshmir Bhandar database,” the Chief Minister said.
He further alleged that several men had also been receiving benefits under the women-centric scheme. Citing an example, he said, “Rakibul Sheikh, son of Mansur Sheikh and a resident of Radharghat-1 gram panchayat in Baharampur, has been receiving Lakshmir Bhandar benefits. Such irregularities occurred due to the lack of proper verification.”
Earlier, the BJP-led Maharashtra government had carried out a large-scale audit of its flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana to identify and remove ineligible beneficiaries. During the verification drive, nearly 69 lakh names were deleted for failing to meet eligibility criteria, including e-KYC compliance and document verification requirements.
As a result, the number of beneficiaries under the scheme declined from around 2.46 crore during the 2024 Assembly elections to nearly 1.77 crore. Eligible women under the scheme receive Rs 1,500 per month. Following the reduction in beneficiaries, the scheme’s annual expenditure has significantly decreased from an estimated Rs 45,000 crore to about Rs 26,000 crore. Under the newly launched Annapurna Yojana, the BJP government has increased the monthly financial assistance to Rs 3,000.
The government will issue fresh application forms, and beneficiaries seeking to avail of the scheme will be given 90 days to submit them. Those who complete the application process by June 2 and receive approval will start getting payments from the following month. Until the fresh verification process is completed, existing Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries will continue to receive the assistance they were getting under the earlier scheme.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the Department of Women and Child Development, headed by Agnimitra Paul, will function as the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme.
“As the transition to the new scheme is a massive exercise, multiple departments, local administrative bodies, and the IT department will assist under the leadership of the Chief Secretary to prepare a transparent beneficiary list. We have asked applicants to provide details about their families in the forms because the government wants to build a comprehensive database. We appeal to people to furnish all the required information,” Adhikari said.
He further stated that there was no need for people to rush, as the government had provided a 90-day window for enrolment under the scheme. The forms can be submitted both online and offline. In panchayat and municipal areas, local bodies will participate in the process, while supervisors will conduct door-to-door visits to collect forms. Newly elected MLAs will also be involved in the enrolment drive, he added. The state government will organise “Janakalyan Shibir” (people’s welfare camps) across West Bengal from June 15 to 17, where applicants can also submit their forms, the Chief Minister said.
Government officials clarified that women who pay income tax, as well as current and former employees of the Central or state governments, will not be eligible to receive benefits under the scheme.
