West Bengal Govt begins verification for Annapurna Yojana

The West Bengal Government has launched a verification and database-cleansing exercise for beneficiaries of the upcoming Annapurna Yojana, directing district administrations to complete the process before the scheme is rolled out on June 1, an official said on Friday.

According to an official order issued by the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department, the exercise aims to identify and remove ineligible names from the beneficiary database and ensure proper authentication of genuine recipients.

The West Bengal Government, on May 19, notified the Annapurna Yojana financial assistance scheme for women, replacing the existing ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ programme, for a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000, which will take effect from June 1.

“All existing beneficiaries of ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme shall be migrated to the Annapurna Yojana except the dead, shifted, deleted and absentee electors identified during SIR- 2026, deletion in the second list after publication of draft list, deleted after adjudication, ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate) found during voter slip distribution,” the notification said.

A separate order issued by the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Swarupnagar in North 24 Parganas directed gram panchayat officials, gram rojgar sahayaks, nirman sahayaks and booth-level officers (BLOs) to carry out door-to-door verification of approved beneficiaries on a priority basis.

The order said that cases involving “absent, shifted, dead and duplicate electors” would be examined, and that proposals for the deletion of ineligible beneficiaries would have to be submitted daily.

Officials have also been instructed to ensure that Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of beneficiaries are properly updated on the portal to facilitate direct benefit transfer.

“The State Government wants the beneficiary list to be completely clean and verified before the scheme becomes operational. District administrations have been asked to treat the exercise as urgent and ensure that no eligible person is left out while ineligible entries are removed,” a senior official said.

The Government has decided to extensively utilise BLOs in coordination with block offices and field-level officials for the verification process.

According to the Government communication, a dedicated online portal is also being developed for the authentication of beneficiaries, correction of records and rationalisation of the database.

“The monitoring is being done at the highest level. District-wise progress reports are being submitted to the chief secretary every evening to ensure adherence to timelines,” the official added.

The order further stated that the verification and database cleansing exercise must be completed by May 25.

Women, aged between 25 and 60 years, not permanent Government employees receiving salaries or pensions, and not paying income tax, are eligible to receive the monetary assistance of Rs 3000 per month under the Annapurna Yojana.

The assistance amount will be credited through the Direct Benefit Transfer system to the Aadhaar card-linked bank account in the name of the beneficiary, it added.

The Government announced that an online application portal will be launched on June 1 to accommodate new applicants for the scheme.

The notice stated that fresh applicants for the monetary benefit scheme would be enquired into by the Government or Kolkata’s civic body officials authorised for the purpose, according to the applicant’s residential status.

While DMs concerned will act as sanctioning authorities for the applicants in districts, the commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will sanction the cases for those residing in the KMC area, it added.