Beneficiary verification over ahead of Annapurna rollout

Kolkata: The database verification exercise for Annapurna Yojana, being conducted by govt officials, including BLOs, ended on Monday, six days before the rollout of the social scheme in Bengal.From June 1, all the woman beneficiaries of the earlier Lakshmir Bhandar will be eligible for a monthly assistance of Rs 3,000 under ‘Annapurna Yojana'. But those whose names were struck off the electoral roll after the SIR exercise or marked ‘absent, shifted, dead or duplicate, will not be eligible. "BLOs verified the Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries's names and cross-checked if any among them was marked on the ASD list or struck off the roll," a govt official said. Those who have filed appeals in the SIR tribunal or submitted CAA applications will get the money until their applications are thrown out.BLOs got around four days for the verification. A Maniktala BLO said, "We were given KMC ward-wise lists for the verification." In Feb, 2 crore 42 lakh women got Lakshmir Bhandar aid. But the Annapurna Yojana number is likely to be lower, given the deletion of 40 lakh-odd names after SIR.