West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. | Photo Credit: PTI
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) said that the first tranche of funds under the Annapurna Yojana financial assistance scheme for women has been distributed to nearly 1.1 crore beneficiaries.
Mr. Adhikari also said that 1.6 million applications were received under the scheme and 26 million of them were rejected on the grounds of doubts regarding citizenship and domicile status.
Speaking at the official launch of the project at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, he said, “Twenty-six thousand applications under the Annapurna Yojana have been rejected. A thorough review is required.”
Annapurna Yojana was introduced by the BJP government to provide a monthly benefit of ₹3,000 to eligible women, replacing the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme of the previous TMC regime.
“We cannot transfer taxpayers’ money from the government exchequer to non-Indians,” Mr. Adhikari said, justifying the rejection of 26 lakh applications for the Annapurna Yojana scheme.
He said eligible beneficiaries under the scheme were identified before the amount was transferred to their bank accounts.
Published – July 1, 2026, 3:06 pm EST.