The first tranche of funds under the Annapurna Yojana, a direct cash transfer scheme for women, was credited to the accounts of nearly 1.1 crore beneficiaries earlier this month.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said around 1.6 crore applications were received for the scheme, of which 26 lakh were rejected on grounds including deaths, doubts over citizenship and domicile status, deletion from voter rolls and multiple account holdings.
“The scrutiny and filter were necessary since we cannot transfer taxpayers’ money from the government coffers to non-Indians,” Adhikari said
If your details have been uploaded to the scheme portal but you have not yet received the payment, here are some possible reasons:
DBT may not be activated: Your bank account may not be linked to your Aadhaar number, or Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) may not be activated. Verify these details and, if necessary, visit your bank as soon as possible to link your Aadhaar with your bank account and enable DBT.
Wrong name in the application form: The name on your application may not match the name on your Aadhaar card or bank passbook. If there is any mismatch, get it corrected as soon as possible
Multiple applicants using the same mobile number: Using the same mobile number for multiple family members can delay payment. Each applicant must provide a unique bank account number and mobile number in the application form.
Confusion regarding the active account: If you have multiple bank accounts, it may not be clear which one has Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) enabled. Make sure the bank account mentioned in your application form is active and has DBT enabled.
Rules for government employee or pensioner: The applicant or any member of the applicant’s family must not be a permanent government employee or a government pensioner.
Rules for taxpayers: The applicant or any family member must not be an income taxpayer. If either the applicant or a family member pays income tax, the applicant will not be eligible for benefits under the Annapurna Bhandar scheme
Fake caste certificate: Submitting a fake caste certificate (SC/ST) or a forged disability certificate can lead to the rejection of your application
Verification process incomplete: You will not receive the payment until the authorities complete the door-to-door verification of your application and supporting documents.
The Annapurna Yojana was introduced by the BJP government to provide a monthly allowance of ₹3,000 to eligible women, replacing the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ programme of the previous TMC regime.
In its budget presented on June 22 for the remaining nine months of the 2026-27 fiscal, the state allocated ₹36,000 crore for the Annapurna Yojana and declared a slew of other women-centric welfare measures.
The Women, Child Development and Social Welfare Department received the highest allocation of ₹52,308 crore in the budget, largely on account of the direct cash transfer scheme for women.
“The Annapurna beneficiaries include over 26.5 lakh women belonging to the scheduled caste category, nearly 5 lakh scheduled tribe women and more than 1.2 lakh Gorkha community women in the Darjeeling hills,” the CM declared, and said that about 8.15 lakh names were included on the basis of applications made at the Jan Kalyan camps recently organised by the government.