Kolkata: With disbursement of Rs 3,000 monthly benefit post verifications under Annapurna Yojana slated to start from Monday, many beneficiaries are keeping their fingers crossed to get the money after the long wait. The women left out in the first phase hope to be included this time as the state has widened the beneficiary net. This is the distribution for third instalment.The disbursement of direct benefit transfer will be done on “a district-wise basis” and this will go on till Friday, according to state minister of women & child development and social welfare, Malati Rava Roy.A day before the rollout of the benefit transfer, she made it clear that all beneficiaries would not get the monthly allowance on Monday, rather the disbursement process would be carried on for next four days starting Aug 17.The minister told TOI: “Disbursement will not be made to everyone at once on Monday. It will be carried out district-wise. Lists are being reviewed and final assessment of how many people are getting covered can be ascertained on Monday. Efforts are being made to disburse the money to everyone between Aug 17 and 21.”During a press meet at Nabanna on Sunday, CM Suvendu Adhikari reiterated that the women who had applied for the scheme by July 10 would start getting the benefits on Aug 17. Last month, about 1.2 crore women across the state had availed themselves of the monthly allowance.The CM added, “Applications submitted after July 10 are still being verified and beneficiaries whose applications will be found error-free will get the money later. Those whose applications have been verified will start getting the money from Monday. Earlier, several women were yet to receive the benefit and in some cases, it was found that the applicants’ bank accounts were not linked to Aadhaar. Besides, we have also relaxed the eligibility criteria. So far, 1.8 crore applications have been submitted and most of them are likely to get the benefit post verification.”Arpita Bag from Charu Market area said, “I used to get Rs 1,500 under Lakshmir Bhandar but did not get the double benefit under the new scheme. I got my bank account linked with Aadhaar and applied afresh for Annapurna Yojana. I hope that I will get the money from this month as I have submitted all required papers.”Earlier, the women living in three-room houses had been excluded. The CM said on Sunday that the condition was removed for the beneficiaries living in rural areas. “The women in municipal areas will also get relaxations. In seven municipal corporation areas, those owning more than 50 decimal of land will not get the benefit,” he said.Another woman Soni Das from New Alipore is also hoping that she will start receiving the money from this month.
