Policy Update
Shruti Sethi
Background
West Bengal has a long tradition of state-sponsored welfare programmes aimed at alleviating poverty and reducing socio-economic inequality. In 2021, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee introduced the Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme, a monthly cash transfer programme targeting women from economically weaker households. The scheme quickly became a flagship welfare initiative, enrolling approximately 2.21 crore (22.1 million) women across West Bengal before being replaced by the Annapurna Bhandar scheme in mid-2026. (West Bengal Government)
The 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections resulted in a decisive political transition. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Suvendu Adhikari, secured 207 of 293 assembly seats, ending 15 years of TMC governance. In its electoral manifesto — “Bhoroshar Shopoth” — the BJP had pledged to introduce a significantly enhanced women’s welfare scheme under the name Matri Shakti Bharosa Scheme. Upon assuming office on 9 May 2026, the new government notified the Annapurna Yojana on 19 May 2026 and formally launched it on 3 June 2026.
West Bengal’s Annapurna Yojana marks a significant escalation in India’s evolving welfare landscape. By offering ₹3,000 per month to an estimated two crore women, the scheme is among the most ambitious cash transfer programmes implemented by any Indian state.
What Has Changed?
Launched in August 2021, Lakshmir Bhandar initially provided ₹500 per month to women from general categories and ₹1,000 per month to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) women. The then-Finance Minister of West Bengal proposed that, effective February 2026, the amounts would be revised upward to ₹1,500 per month for general category women and ₹1,700 per month for SC/ST women.
Lakshmir Bhandar is widely credited with deepening women’s financial inclusion and contributing to the TMC’s electoral dominance, particularly among rural and semi-urban women voters. However, critics identified shortcomings including inequitable category-based disbursement and alleged infiltration of the beneficiary list by ineligible individuals.
The Annapurna Yojana replaces the earlier Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, substantially increasing the scale and uniformity of benefits. Unlike its predecessor, which offered differentiated payments based on social category, the new scheme provides a uniform monthly cash transfer of ₹3,000 to all eligible women, irrespective of social category (general, SC, or ST). On an annualised basis, each beneficiary receives ₹36,000 per year.
Funds are disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts continuing India’s broader transition toward digitised welfare delivery.
The Aadhaar-bank account linkage is mandatory and is verified through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mapper before disbursements are approved. The beneficiary list is updated on a rolling basis, with periodic verification cycles.
The government estimates that approximately two crore women will ultimately benefit from the scheme. The enrolment process will continue from 27 May 2026 – 25 August 2026, both online and offline with applications being accepted at block development offices, municipal offices and designated Government centres. The government will also organize “Janakalyan Shibir” camps across West Bengal from 15–17 June 2026 to facilitate form submission at the grassroots level, with Block Development Officers (BDOs) and elected representatives assisting applicants.
This shift toward a uniform transfer simplifies administration and reduces category-based disparities. At the same time, it reflects a broader move toward quasi-universal welfare, where coverage and political reach are prioritised over fine-grained targeting.
Eligibility Criteria and Exclusions
The scheme has defined eligibility parameters designed to target economically vulnerable women while excluding individuals already supported by public employment or taxation frameworks.
Inclusion Criteria
To qualify for Annapurna Yojana benefits, an applicant must satisfy the following conditions:
- Must be a woman.
- Must be a permanent resident of West Bengal with valid residence documents.
- Must be an Indian citizen.
- Must be aged between 25 and 60 years.
- Must have an active, single-holder bank account that is Aadhaar-linked (Aadhaar-seeded) and mapped with NPCI for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Women who have applied for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and whose names are under verification in voter rolls (for instance, through tribunal processes linked to Special Intensive Revision exercises) are provisionally included as beneficiaries until their legal status is formally resolved. This provision appears to be aimed at preventing temporary exclusion from welfare support due to ongoing documentation or citizenship verification processes, thereby ensuring continuity of income assistance during administrative uncertainty.
Exclusion Criteria
The following categories are explicitly excluded from the scheme:
- Income taxpayers.
- Permanent government employee
- Individuals receiving a regular salary/pension from the State/Union government, statutory bodies, local bodies, panchayats or government-aided educational institutions.
- Teaching or non-teaching staff of government-aided educational institutions in West Bengal.
- Non-Indian citizens and individuals whose names have been deleted from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. This includes those marked as “ASDD” – “Absent,” “Shifted,” “Duplicate,” or “Dead,” as well as unmapped voters.
Of the 2.21 crore women enrolled under Lakshmir Bhandar, approximately 30 lakh were found ineligible following the re-verification exercise described above. The remaining roughly two crore beneficiaries are being automatically migrated to Annapurna Yojana, with Lakshmir Bhandar payments continuing until their Annapurna Yojana DBT credits begin — provided their Aadhaar is correctly seeded to their bank account via the NPCI mapper.
Design Strengths
The official application form is a 12-page document available in Bengali, English, and Hindi, comprising seven sections covering personal details, residence, income, family composition, bank account details and supporting declarations. Required documentation includes: an Aadhaar card, West Bengal residence proof, a valid ration card, passport-size photographs and an Aadhaar-linked mobile number for OTP verification.
The scheme incorporates a multi-layered verification protocol: Aadhaar-linked bank account validation through NPCI; cross-referencing with electoral rolls (with Special Intensive Revision deletions resulting in exclusion); family data collection; and income verification to screen out taxpayers and salaried government employees.
The Annapurna Yojana incorporates several design features that, if implemented as intended, align with contemporary welfare policy trends:
- The use of DBT is intended to reduce leakages and improve the timeliness of transfers compared to traditional in-kind delivery.
- By directing payments to women, the scheme is likely to enhance intra-household bargaining power and support better outcomes in areas such as nutrition, health and education.
- The scale of the programme is significant. With nearly two crore beneficiaries, the scheme has the potential to boost consumption demand, particularly in rural and semi-urban economies.
- The move to a uniform benefit structure reduces complexity and may lower grievance levels associated with category-based differentiation.
- By requiring Aadhaar-linked bank accounts as a precondition for benefit receipt and government’s simultaneous approval of zero-balance bank account opening facilities at post offices, the scheme supports the goal of financial inclusion for women in rural and semi-urban areas.
In quantitative terms, if fully implemented, it would be among the largest direct cash transfer programmes targeting women in any Indian state. In qualitative terms, the uniform ₹3,000 benefit, eliminating the category-based differential that characterised Lakshmir Bhandar, represents a meaningful step toward administrative simplicity and equity across social categories.
Key Concerns in Design and Implementation
Despite its strengths, the scheme raises important concerns regarding targeting and implementation.
The eligibility framework relies primarily on exclusion criteria such as income tax status or government employment, rather than robust income verification. As a result, the scheme operates as a near-universal transfer within a broad demographic category, increasing fiscal costs while potentially diluting targeting efficiency.
In addition, the reliance on Aadhaar-linked bank accounts and electoral roll verification introduces risks of exclusion. Errors in data linkage or discrepancies in voter records may prevent eligible beneficiaries from receiving payments, disproportionately affecting marginalised populations.
More controversially, the linkage of eligibility to electoral roll status and citizenship-related processes risks politicising welfare access. Such provisions may blur the boundary between social protection and administrative classification, raising concerns about fairness and institutional neutrality.
Fiscal Implications
At ₹3,000 per month, i.e., ₹36,000 yearly for an anticipated two crore beneficiaries, the scheme entails an annual expenditure of approximately ₹72,000 to ₹80,000 crore – an enormous recurring fiscal commitment for a state already carrying significant liabilities. By 2026, West Bengal’s outstanding state debt stood at approximately ₹7.71 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit for 2025–26 was estimated at 3.6% of GSDP (₹73,178 crore), while the revenue deficit stood at 1.7% of GSDP (₹35,315 crore). In this context, the scale of the Annapurna Yojana raises concerns about long-term sustainability.
A key risk is the crowding out of capital expenditure. As revenue is increasingly allocated toward welfare transfers, investments in infrastructure, education and industrial development may be constrained. This trade-off could weaken the state’s long-term growth prospects.
Additionally, large unconditional cash transfers have been identified as contributors to revenue deficits in several states. Without corresponding increases in revenue mobilisation, sustained expenditure at this scale may exacerbate fiscal stress.
A Shift Towards Welfare Competition
The Annapurna Yojana is not an isolated policy intervention but part of a broader national trend. Across India, the number of states running unconditional cash transfer schemes for women has risen sharply in recent years, with these states collectively spending a substantial amount annually on such programmes.
Among existing schemes, benefit amounts have ranged from around ₹1,000 to ₹2,500 per month — Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi scheme offers ₹2,000, Maharashtra’s Ladki Bahin Yojana provides ₹1,500, and Jharkhand’s Maiyan Samman Yojana, at ₹2,500, was previously the highest. At ₹3,000 per month, West Bengal’s Annapurna Yojana now exceeds all of these, making it the highest cash transfer amount offered by any Indian state to date.
This pattern suggests the emergence of a form of “welfare competition,” where political parties use cash transfers to consolidate electoral support. Women, in particular, have become a central constituency in this evolving welfare politics.
While such programmes can deliver immediate welfare gains, they also risk creating a cycle of escalating commitments that may be difficult to sustain over time.
Welfare Gains and Their Limits
The Annapurna Yojana is likely to produce tangible short-term benefits. By increasing household income, it can reduce vulnerability, support consumption and enhance financial security for women.
However, these gains are primarily consumptive. The scheme does not directly address structural issues such as employment generation, skill development, or productivity enhancement. As a result, its impact on long-term economic transformation is likely to be limited.
Without complementary investments in growth-enhancing sectors, large-scale cash transfers risk becoming a substitute for, rather than a complement to, development policy.
What Lies Ahead
The Annapurna Yojana represents a bold expansion of gender-targeted welfare in India. Its scale and design reflect both administrative innovation and political calculation.
The central challenge going forward will be balancing immediate welfare gains with long-term fiscal and developmental priorities. Policymakers must ensure that welfare spending remains compatible with long-term fiscal sustainability and does not crowd out investment in health, education and infrastructure. Ensuring accurate beneficiary identification, minimising exclusion errors and maintaining fiscal discipline will be critical to the scheme’s success.
More broadly, the scheme highlights a fundamental policy question: can large-scale cash transfers coexist with sustained investment in infrastructure and economic growth?
Conclusion
The Annapurna Yojana represents one of the most significant welfare policy shifts in West Bengal’s post-independence history. By offering a uniform ₹3,000 monthly transfer to eligible women aged 25–60, the scheme substantially expands upon the financial foundation laid by Lakshmir Bhandar, addressing both the quantum of support and its categorical equity.
The controversy surrounding application complexity, electoral roll linkage and potential exclusionary effects on marginalised communities demands ongoing scrutiny. If not accompanied by strong fiscal management and complementary development strategies, such programmes risk placing significant strain on public finances.
The success of Annapurna Yojana will depend on a few measurable factors: whether the enrolment and verification process is completed without significant exclusion errors, whether the scheme’s cost can be absorbed without further widening the state’s fiscal deficit, and whether capital expenditure on infrastructure and development is protected rather than further crowded out. These indicators, more than the scheme’s scale or visibility, will determine whether Annapurna Yojana represents a sustainable welfare expansion or an unsustainable fiscal commitment.
References:
Government of West Bengal. (2025). 15 Glorious Years of Bengal 2011-2025 https://wb.gov.in/pdf/report_card/WBGovRC_English.pdf
Government of West Bengal. (2026). Bhoroshar Shopoth https://www.bjp.org/files/election-manifesto-documents/Bhoroshar-Shopoth-EN-WB.pdf
Government of West Bengal. (2021). Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Department. https://wbjswsa.org/govphoto/227govgo.pdf
Umang https://web.umang.gov.in/landing/scheme/detail/lakshmir-bhandar-scheme_lbs-wb.html
Government of West Bengal. (2026). Family Level Data Collection Form for Annapurna Yojana. https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s32823f4797102ce1a1aec05359cc16dd9/uploads/2026/05/17799007231812.pdf
Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare. (2026). Official Notification of Annapurna Yojana https://www.govtschemes.in/sites/default/files/2026-05/West%20Bengal%20Annapurna%20Yojana%20Notification%202026.pdf
Finance Department. (2025). Budget at a Glance. Government of West Bengal https://finance.wb.gov.in/writereaddata/Budget_Publication/2025_bp9-1.pdf
Hans India. (2025). Bengal Budget 2025-26: State to end fiscal with Rs 7.72 lakh cr accumulated debt https://www.thehansindia.com/news/national/bengal-budget-2025-26-state-to-end-fiscal-with-rs-772-lakh-cr-accumulated-debt-945093
PRS Legislative Research. (2025). West Bengal Budget Analysis 2024-25 https://prsindia.org/budgets/states/west-bengal-budget-analysis-2024-25
Observer Research Foundation. (2025). Cash Transfers as an Instrument for Poverty Alleviation and Women’s Empowerment in India https://www.orfonline.org/research/cash-transfers-as-an-instrument-for-poverty-alleviation-and-women-s-empowerment-in-india#_edn4
About The Contributor
Shruti Sethi is a Research & Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata. Her research interests include Gender & Labour Economics.
Acknowledgement
The author extends her sincere gratitude to the IMPRI team for their expert guidance and constructive feedback throughout the process.
Reviewers
Riddhi Suthar and Simona Hughes.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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