West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday announced sweeping changes to the eligibility criteria for the state government's flagship women’s welfare scheme, Annapurna Yojana.
Under the revised rules, women earning more than Rs 10,000 a month or owning over 50 decimals of land in the state's seven municipal corporation areas will be excluded from the scheme.
Announcing the changes at Nabanna, Suvendu Adhikari said the revised criteria would also exclude women and their families living in three-room houses in rural areas.
Families with an annual income of Rs 12 lakh or more will also no longer qualify for the monthly assistance of Rs 3,000.
The scheme will be restricted to women aged between 25 and 60. Government employees and income-tax payers will also be excluded from the list of beneficiaries.
However, women receiving a monthly widow’s pension of Rs 1,500 will remain eligible for Annapurna benefits.
Adhikari said that from August 17, payments would be made only to beneficiaries whose details have been verified. The monthly assistance will henceforth be credited during the second week of every month.
The announcement comes amid reports that several beneficiaries are yet to receive their August instalment. Payments had earlier been credited directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
The state government had announced that the third instalment would be released to eligible beneficiaries after August 15.
Launched on June 1 after the BJP government came to power in West Bengal, Annapurna Yojana provides Rs 3,000 a month to eligible women. The scheme replaced the previous Trinamool Congress government's Lakshmir Bhandar programme, under which women received Rs 1,500 per month.
