Women demonstrated outside block offices, municipal authorities and panchayat premises across several West Bengal districts on Monday, alleging that monthly Annapurna Yojana payments of Rs 3,000 had not reached their bank accounts despite applications submitted months earlier.
Protests were reported in Harishchandrapur in Malda, Krishnaganj in Nadia, Polba in Hooghly, Kharagpur, Panchla and Udaynarayanpur. The demonstrations included sit-ins outside government offices, road blockades and, in Polba, the alleged locking of a gram panchayat office by BJP women workers.
In Harishchandrapur-I block, some women went to the Block Development Officer’s office seeking an explanation for the delayed payments. They alleged that a barricade had been placed outside the officer’s office and that two civic volunteers and police personnel were deployed there. The protesters also claimed that some beneficiaries with expensive houses and cars were receiving the assistance while poorer applicants remained excluded. These allegations were reported by the protesters and were not independently established in the report.
Women in Krishnaganj made a similar complaint outside the block administrative office. They said they had submitted the required documents and applied according to the stated process, but had not received any payment. They alleged that other women who applied at around the same time were receiving the benefit regularly. Block administration representatives spoke to the protesters and assured them that their documents and complaints would be examined and that necessary action would be taken. The women ended their demonstration after the discussion.
At the Sugandha gram panchayat office in Polba, protesters alleged that they had not received Annapurna Yojana payments for three months. Police from Polba station reached the location and spoke with the demonstrators. One protester, Suparna Sarkar, said she had applied in July but was still being asked to wait. BJP worker Rakhi Malik said some eligible BJP workers had not received the payment even after applying four months earlier. The report said the panchayat office was locked during the protest.
In Kharagpur, women blocked the state highway outside the municipal gate over alleged non-payment for several months. Police from Kharagpur Town station arrived and persuaded them to lift the blockade, but the protesters continued demonstrating around the municipal chairperson’s office. Chairperson Kalyani Ghosh said the applications would be sent to the district magistrate and that the municipality would request assistance so that eligible women could receive the benefit.
Protests were also held outside the Panchla BDO office, where women alleged that payments had been pending for four months despite the submission of documents. After officials assured them that their complaints would be forwarded to higher authorities, they lifted the road blockade. Women also blocked a road in Udaynarayanpur over the same issue.
The latest demonstrations followed earlier protests in several districts over the scheme. The report said the state government had previously announced that action would be taken if eligible women did not receive the Rs 3,000 payment by a specified deadline. It also said that a fourth instalment was announced for transfer to the accounts of 1.5 crore women on September 17. The latest protests began after the expected payment date passed, with applicants continuing to claim that they were eligible but had not been paid.
The block administrations and local authorities have so far responded by accepting complaints, reviewing documents and forwarding applications to senior officials. The report did not state how many applications remain pending or when the disputed payments will be credited.
