West Bengal’s newly elected BJP government moved quickly to put its stamp on state policy on Monday, using its second cabinet meeting to dismantle a series of religion-based welfare schemes introduced under Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress administration.
Women and Child Development Minister Agnimitra Paul announced after the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna that government assistance to groups based on religious categorisation would be wound down from June. Schemes running under the departments of Information and Cultural Affairs and Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education would be allowed to continue through the end of May before being stopped entirely.
The cabinet also scrapped the existing state Other Backward Classes list, in line with a Calcutta High Court ruling, and announced the formation of a new panel to determine quota eligibility afresh.
On the welfare front, the government approved the ‘Annapurna’ scheme, under which women will receive ₹3,000 in monthly assistance from 1 June, double the ₹1,500 provided under the previous administration’s Lakshmir Bhandar programme. Women already enrolled under that scheme will be moved across automatically, while a new portal will be launched for those not yet covered.
Free travel for women on state-run buses was also approved, set to begin from the same date.
“The cabinet gave a nod to the Annapurna scheme of ₹3,000 monthly assistance to women from June 1. It also approved a proposal to allow free travel for women in government-run buses from next month,” Paul told reporters.
She also confirmed that women who have applied for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, or approached tribunals for inclusion in voter rolls amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise, would be eligible for Annapurna scheme benefits.
The cabinet further approved the constitution of the seventh state pay commission, which will cover government employees as well as staff in allied statutory civic bodies, education boards and state-run educational institutions. When asked about dearness allowance, Paul said no discussion had taken place on the matter and that it would be taken up at a later stage.
Away from the cabinet table, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari held his first janata darbar, a public grievance session, at the BJP’s Salt Lake office, meeting students and residents who came with a range of representations and demands. The format, commonly used by leaders such as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is expected to become a regular fixture under Adhikari’s tenure.
The West Bengal BJP was quick to frame the week’s events as a break from the past. “What West Bengal under TMC couldn’t deliver in 15 years, the Double Engine Government has started showing in its very first week. This is the new West Bengal and the speed of real governance,” the party said in a post on X.
