Kolkata, Aug 18: The West Bengal government will raise the annual allocation for the Annapurna Yojana from Rs 36,000 crore to Rs 48,000 crore to cover all eligible women under the scheme, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a programme at Dhanadhanya Auditorium in Kolkata, Adhikari said the initial budgetary allocation of Rs 36,000 crore would not be sufficient for the cash transfer scheme given the growing number of beneficiaries.
“We are committed to fulfilling our promise. We had allocated Rs 36,000 crore in the budget. That will not be enough. Rs 48,000 crore will be required annually to run this scheme,” he said.
Adhikari said 1.45 crore women had already been approved as beneficiaries, while verification of another 14 lakh applications was under way.
Payments under the scheme began reaching beneficiaries’ bank accounts from August 17. Eligible women would get Rs 3,000 per month under the scheme, officials said.
Around 1.80 crore applications have been received so far, of which 1.66 crore submitted up to July 10 have been verified, they said.
Verification of the remaining 14 lakh applications, submitted between July 10 and July 31, is under way, they added.
Adhikari said beneficiaries would receive the assistance by the second week of every month.
“A new portal will also be launched on August 20 to allow eligible women who may have been left out of the beneficiary list to apply for the scheme. Applications received through the portal will be scrutinised by the administration and eligible applicants will be added after verification,” he said.
The chief minister also urged the BJP’s Mahila Morcha workers to ensure that no eligible woman was left out of the scheme.
At the same time, he called for scrutiny of cases in which financially well-off women had received the benefit.
“I hope that those who do not need the money will create an opportunity for another person to receive it. This is my appeal to all of you,” Adhikari said.
