Bengal under Rs 7.71 lakh cr debt, can Suvendu govt afford to double women's stipend?

The BJP government in West Bengal has unveiled one of its biggest welfare announcements yet, promising a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 for women under the new Annapurna Yojana from June 1 even as concerns mount within the administration over the state’s financial health.

Women and child welfare minister Agnimitra Paul said on May 18 that all beneficiaries of the previous Trinamool Congress government’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme would automatically be covered under the new programme. Under Lakshmir Bhandar, women from the general category received Rs 1,500 per month while those from reserved categories got Rs 200 more.

The state government has also announced free rides for women in government-run buses from June 1, adding another major welfare commitment within days of the BJP assuming power.

Paul said women whose names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls would be reviewed individually. However, she clarified, women who have applied for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or approached the Supreme Court-appointed tribunals for SIR redressal would continue receiving benefits without interruption.

According to estimates prepared during the previous regime, nearly 22.1 million women were receiving Lakshmir Bhandar benefits. If the BJP government continues with a similar beneficiary base while paying Rs 3,000 per month, the annual expenditure on this welfare could touch nearly Rs 80,000 crore—an enormous burden for a state already struggling under a debt of Rs 7.71 lakh crore.

“The scheme is highly unsustainable,” said a source in the Suvendu Adhikari government. “The chief minister has asked senior officers, including the finance secretary, to discuss and work a way out.”

Senior officials indicated that while no final decision had been taken, the government may eventually introduce eligibility filters or fresh conditions to reduce the financial burden and rationalise the number of beneficiaries.

The financial anxiety within the administration has also been sharpened by the government’s simultaneous promises to state employees. Paul announced on May 18 that the cabinet had approved the setting up of the 7th Pay Commission for state government employees. However, the government did not specify any timeline for submission of the panel’s recommendations or their implementation.

More significantly, Paul made no clear announcement during her media conference on the disbursal of dearness allowance arrears, an issue that had dominated political campaigns and employee protests in recent years.

Part of the exchequer savings, officials believe, may come from the BJP government’s decision to discontinue from June religion-based allowances. Under the Trinamool government, monthly honorariums were provided to imams, muezzins and Hindu priests, with the amounts increased this year ahead of the assembly elections. The new administration has argued that state welfare should not be linked to religion and has moved to scrap such benefits as part of a wider policy reset.

At the same time, chief minister Adhikari announced on May 18 that his government is planning to revive the Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship for meritorious but economically weaker students. The scholarship, popularly known as the Vivekananda Merit Scholarship, provides financial assistance from higher secondary to postgraduate levels.

The BJP government’s twin approach—expanding welfare while simultaneously attempting administrative and financial restructuring—now places enormous pressure on the exchequer. Even within the administration, officials privately acknowledge that sustaining such expansive promises alongside salary revisions, pension liabilities and fresh social schemes could become the defining challenge of Adhikari’s first year in office.

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