Kolkata: The number of beneficiaries for Annapurna Yojana is more in north Kolkata than that in south Kolkata as of now.“I enquired with the finance department and learnt that till afternoon, the money under Annapurna Yojana scheme has been disbursed to 1.31 crore beneficiaries. In north Kolkata zone, which covers seven assembly constituency areas, 76,817 women are receiving the monthly amount of Rs 3,000 and in south Kolkata, more than 53,000,” said chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday.The state on Monday started the process of crediting the scheme’s benefits to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of 1.45 crore women, after completing the verification of the applications submitted by July 10.Adhikari, who met the Annapurna Yojana beneficiaries from North and South Kolkata zones at Mahajati Sadan and Dhono Dhanyo auditorium on Tuesday, said the direct benefit transfer (DBT) of the money in this phase would continue till Thursday. The verification of applications, submitted between July 11 and 31, was going on.The CM indicated that new beneficiaries would also be included and the state would have to spend around Rs 48,000 crore this year for disbursing money under the scheme.Adhikari said that after Thursday, the South Kolkata BJP Mahila Morcha team would go door to door with beneficiary lists and check whether money was credited to the accounts of all eligible beneficiaries. He added that an Annapurna Yojana Bahini would be formed for the task in north Kolkata.So far, 1.8 crore applications have been submitted for Annapurna Yojana, among which 1.6 crore have been verified. Around 17 lakh women, whose applications have been withheld, can again apply for further verification from Aug 20.
