West Bengal cabinet approves "Annapurna Bhandar" scheme for women from June, gives in-principle approval for formation of 7th Pay Commission

West Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul speaks at a press meet at Nabanna, in Kolkata on Monday. | Photo Credit: ANI

The West Bengal cabinet on Monday approved the "Annapurna Bhandar" scheme of ₹3000 monthly assistance to women from June 1, and gave an in-principle approval for the formation of the 7th Pay Commission for state government employees.

Talking to the media after the cabinet meeting, Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Minister Agnimitra Paul said the government also approved the discontinuation of several direct benefit transfer schemes, based on religious categorisation, under the Information and Cultural Affairs Department and the Minority and Madrasah Department from June 1.

This decision will result in the stoppage of honorarium to imams and muezzins and purohits which was announced by the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government.

“The cabinet gave a nod to the Annapurna Bhandar scheme of ₹3000 monthly assistance to women from June 1. Those enrolled in the previous Lakshmir Bhandar scheme will also receive benefits under the Annapurna Bhandar scheme. Women whose names have been struck off the electoral rolls, but who have applied before tribunals or under the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) will be eligible for the scheme,” Paul said.

Dedicated portal

A dedicated portal will be launched for enrollment under the scheme. Notably, doubling the monthly direct benefit transfer to women from ₹1,500 under Lakshmir Bhandar during the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government to ₹3,000 was one of the major poll promises the BJP had made during the campaign for the Assembly elections held last month.

The new BJP government, led by Suvendu Adhikari, approved the constitution of the 7th State Pay Commission for state government employees, staff of government boards and corporations, state-aided bodies, and educational institutions.

The Cabinet also approved free transport facilities for women in government-run buses across West Bengal.

After the BJP government’s first Cabinet meeting on May 11, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the commencement of the transfer of required land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing the India-Bangladesh border to put an end to illegal infiltration into the State.

Adhikari also announced the immediate rollout of Ayushman Bharat, the Centre’s flagship health insurance programme, in Bengal.

Significantly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah several times alleged that the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the State had been allowing illegal infiltration as a policy to strengthen the party’s vote bank, leading to a change in Bengal’s demography. Shah accused Banerjee of “deliberately obstructing” fencing work along the Bangladesh border by not arranging land.

Published on May 18, 2026