Kolkata: Bengal govt on Wednesday widened the Annapurna Yojana net to include more beneficiaries and eased some of the scheme’s eligibility criteria but warned there will be stricter verification to ensure the cash dole reaches only genuine applicants. Women beneficiaries are eligible for a direct bank transfer of Rs 3,000 every month under the scheme.Women who already receive Rs 1,500 under Divyang pension programme and those covered under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme will now also be eligible for Annapurna benefits, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said.However, the CM clarified that if women aged between 25 and 60 who currently receive cash benefits under other social schemes apply for Annapurna Yojana and are found to be eligible, they will only get the Rs 3,000 under Annapurna and not the benefits of the other schemes.The govt also relaxed housing criterion for Annapurna beneficiaries from rural areas. “Earlier, women living in three-room houses were excluded. For rural areas, this condition has been removed,” the CM said. Relaxations have also been given to women in municipal areas. “Only in the seven municipal corporation areas, landowners who own more than 50 decimal of land will not get the benefits,” Adhikari said.Disbursement of the 3rd instalment under the scheme will begin Aug 17, he said, adding that the state may have to spend around Rs 50,000 crore this financial year to provide the cash benefit.“Only verified applications will be cleared for the Annapurna monthly transfer. By August we will be able to transfer cash to 99% of the beneficiaries,” he said.Adhikari clarified that permanent employees of central and state govt organisations, panchayats, municipalities, statutory bodies, teachers and education staff will not be eligible for Annapurna. Families paying income tax will also be excluded, as will be a woman who herself earns more than Rs 10,000 per month. However, wives of casual or contractual govt employees will be eligible.The CM said a complaint portal will be launched to flag irregularities. “Anybody can lodge a complaint in the portal. BDOs will be responsible for resolving the complaints after conducting hearings,” he said.“We received many complaints when the money transfer process started with many eligible women complaining that they did not receive money. This was because Aadhaar number was not linked in many cases. Earlier, many men received money instead of women. Govt money should be spent in the right place and nobody has the right to misuse it,” Adhikari said.
