The first tranche of funds disbursed by the state government under the Annapurna Yojana, a direct cash transfer scheme for women, was credited to the accounts of nearly 1.1 crore beneficiaries, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday.
While about 1.6 crore applications were received for the scheme, 26 lakh of them were rejected on grounds of deaths, doubts over citizenship and domicile status, deletion from voter rolls and multiple account-holding beneficiaries, Adhikari added.
Speaking at the launch of the scheme at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, Adhikari said, “The 26 lakh forms submitted under the Annapurna scheme have been rejected. Screening was necessary. Money has been transferred to the remaining around 1.3 crore accounts. By Wednesday morning, funds were credited to 1.1 crore bank accounts. Those who are yet to receive the amount will have it transferred by the end of the day. However, it must be ensured that no one receives money outside the rules.”
“There are names of 26 lakh women who are not Indian, and names missing on the voter list. Some are dead, some do not have voter ID cards, and some had their names listed in three places. Such names have been removed. Government money cannot be received by any non-Indians,” he added.
The Chief Minister also delivered an important message regarding women’s safety, saying there would be no compromise on the issue and that the administration is being made more active so that prompt action can be taken as soon as a complaint is received.
“A system is being put in place to respond promptly to any complaint. The government has a zero-tolerance policy towards any kind of crime against women. The government is also taking measures to confiscate properties of those accused in serious crimes,” Adhikari said.
The Chief Minister also said that the state government has decided to have a separate women’s helpdesk at all police stations across the state from Thursday.
In addition, a new emergency service, ‘Dial 112,’ is set to be launched to address the complaints. He claimed that although the average police response time in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat is comparatively low, in West Bengal that time is often much longer. This new system is being introduced to change that situation.