30 lakh beneficiaries of Mamata's Lakshmir Bhandar unfit for new Bengal scheme

Around 30 lakh beneficiaries of Lakshmir Bhandar, the flagship scheme of the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, have been found unfit for the new Annapurna Bhandar scheme, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday. He said that these individuals were either non-Indian citizens or had been permanently removed from the state's voter list, reported news agency PTI.

The exclusion of the 30 lakh people comes after the West Bengal government conducted a "comprehensive cleansing and verification" of the list of beneficiaries of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme in a bid to detect ineligible recipients, said Adhikari.

Data from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list was used, and a comprehensive survey was launched on May 19 to verify the authenticity of the beneficiaries, according to reports.

Adhikari's announcement on the exclusions came even as the West Bengal government on Wednesday issued the application and verification forms for Lakshmir Bhandar recipients to migrate to the new Annapurna Bhandar scheme.

The new Annapurna Bhandar Scheme or Annapurna Yojana is scheduled to be officially launched on June 1. It was among the key campaign promises of the BJP with which it wooed women voters.

The BJP came to power in West Bengal for the first time as results were declared on May 4, defeating the Mamata Banerje-led Trinamool Congress (TMC). The TMC had been in power for 15 years. The BJP won 208 of 294 seats in the Bengal Assembly.

30 LAKH INELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES IN LAKSHMIR BHANDAR?

Both the Lashmir Bhandar and Annapurna Bhandar schemes operate as direct-cash transfer initiatives for women in West Bengal. The incoming Annapurna Bhandar scheme offers a flat Rs 3,000 monthly payout, replacing the previous Lakshmir Bhandar scheme which provided between Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,700 per month.

As of now, 2.21 crore women receive money under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, with general category women getting Rs 1,500 per month and SC/ST women receiving Rs 1,700.

Addressing a press conference at Nabanna, the West Bengal secretariat, Suvendu Adhikari stated that "approximately 30 lakh beneficiaries" were receiving Lakshmir Bhandar assistance despite being ineligible.

These, Adhikari said, included those whose names had been permanently deleted from the voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, or they had not applied to a SIR-linked tribunal or for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for inclusion.

The BJP government has made it clear after assuming power on May 10 that anyone scrubbed from the voter logs during the SIR, including those awaiting tribunal decisions on their appeals, would not receive welfare benefits "for the time being".

The Election Commission of India conducted the SIR exercise to purify the electoral rolls before election in West Bengal.

HOW MANY NAMES WERE DELETED IN SIR IN WEST BENGAL?

A total of approximately 91 lakh voters were deleted from the electoral rolls in West Bengal. This massive cleanup represented nearly 12% of the state's entire electorate.

Roughly 58 lakh names were established and removed under the standard Absent, Shifted, Dead, and Duplicate (ASDD) categories. Another 6 lakh unmapped voters were omitted by the time the final rolls were published.

The remaining 27 lakh (2.7 million) voters were struck off the rolls following a strict judicial review regarding citizenship and ancestral linkage discrepancies.

Ahead of the polling, about 34 lakh appeals were reportedly pending before the tribunals. Appellate Tribunals set up as part of the SIR process had allowed 1,607 names to be added back to the electoral rolls. The Indian Express reported that a total of 24.88 lakhs appeals were still pending before the Supreme Court-ordered Appellate Tribunals as of May 22.

HOW WAS SURVEY CONDUCTED FOR ANNAPURNA BHANDAR SCHEME?

The West Bengal government launched a comprehensive survey on May 19 of all Lakshmir Bhandar scheme beneficiaries, reported the Kolkata-based newspaper, The Telegraph. The report had to be submitted by May 25.

During a meeting convened by chief secretary Manoj Agarwal on May 19, district authorities were asked to utilise the services of booth-level electoral officers for the survey, according to The Telegraph.

The data of ASDD voters, which were compiled during the SIR of electoral rolls, was considered during the verification of the beneficiaries.

"It has to be ensured that no ineligible beneficiary's name figures in the list. All those whose names figured in the ASDD list and were deleted from the electoral rolls should not be paid the grant," said an official, according to a report in The Telegraph on May 23.

"Our first notion was that the Lakshmir Bhandar list was verified," Suvendu Adhikari was quoted by PTI as saying on Wednesday.

The Bengal CM clarified that CAA applicants and those who have appealed to SIR-linked tribunals after adjudication for entry on the voter list would, however, be eligible for the Annapurna Bhandar scheme.

"No deceased person, illegal infiltrator, or non-Indian individual will be allowed to avail benefits meant for citizens of the state," he emphasised.

As the new Annapurna Yojana is launched, the Bengal government has weeded out 30 lakh beneficiaries of Mamata's Lakshmir Bhandar, finding them ineligible for the new cash-transfer scheme.

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