For several years, Taharul Bibi’s husband Farid Alam Mallik has been working as a bread hawker in Punjab, sending money home to support his family in a village in West Bengal. Yet, according to the state government’s records, he is now a government employee. That classification has cost Taharul Bibi her entitlement to financial assistance under Annapurna Yojana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s social welfare scheme, meant to provide financial support to women. Taharul Bibi was stunned to find this out. “Who decided that my husband is a government employee?’’ she asked. Raising four daughters, she said, she struggles to keep her family afloat.Bibi lives in Natun gram village, a Muslim-majority village in the Adharthol gram panchayat in Bankura district. It is situated in West Bengal’s Jangalmahal region.While filling out the Annapurna Yojana application online, she never mentioned that her husband was a government employee. “I never wrote anywhere that my husband is a government employee. I had mentioned he is a bread hawker. Then how did the government records show him as one? My benefits stopped on the basis of this incorrect information,” she said to The Wire.She went to the block office and, after considerable effort, managed to find out why her application had been rejected. However, it left her even more disturbed. “I can see that I am not alone. Many women in my village have been deprived of the benefit under this scheme,” she said. Her experience is not an isolated case. It reflects the growing distress among women in several villages in the state, particularly in areas with a large Muslim, Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe population.In Natun gram, several women seconded what Taharul Bibi found out. They alleged that they have indeed been denied benefits under the Annapurna Yojona too. While Bibi has managed to learn the reason for her exclusion, many others remain completely in the dark. Taharul Bibi, Anisa Bibi , Rousona Aara Kharun, Parvina Khatun are among the women in Natun gram in Bankura district, who have been denied Annapurna Yojana benefits. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeA similar picture emerged in Shitla village under Saharjora gram panchayat in Barjora block of the same district. Women belonging to the Sarpabeda tribal community spoke of their distress at being denied the promised assistance.Several lakh women across West Bengal are facing similar uncertainty and distress, with many saying they do not know why they have been denied the promised assistance, according to local reports.Patuli Sarbabedia, a resident of Shitla village in Barjora who was denied the benefits, shows her Annapurna Yojana documents. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeThe most striking commonality among these women was their lack of clarity. Some even said they received the benefit once, and were denied the second instalment. But why did they qualify the first time and were then suddenly excluded? Women protest across West BengalAs confusion and frustration mount across villages, women have increasingly begun taking to the streets, gathering outside block offices and gram panchayats demanding answers. Protests are being reported from different parts of the state. In several places, roads and highways have been blocked as beneficiaries demand an explanation from the authorities on why their names have been excluded and why their payment has been stopped. On August 21, nearly 500 women protesting their exclusion from the Annapurna Yojana surrounded the state urban development and municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Pal as she was entering the district magistrate’s office in Medinipur for an official programme. They demanded to know why they were denied the Annapurna benefit despite fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Pal was forced to speak to the women. She asked the protesting women to submit details of their applications, along with their enrolment numbers, to the local Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) and Block-Development Officers (BDOs) for verification.Women surrounded state minister Agnimitra Pal outside the district magistrate’s office in Medinipur, protesting over being denied Annapurna Yojana benefits. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeThe issue is bigger than receiving the cash welfare – it is about knowing the ‘why’ and ‘who’ behind making the decision.Women have also staged prolonged road blockades in Sonamukhi, Barjora, Khatra, Ranibandh in Bankura. In Malda, road blockades were reported from Manikchak and English Bazar. In Birbhum, women continued their protest at the Durrajpur block office, while similar demonstrations were reported from Chakdaha in Nadia.Dipa Pal, a daily wage worker from Chakdaha, said her husband gets work only irregularly and her 75-year-old father-in-law is no longer capable of working. “If we had received the Annapurna money, it would have helped keep our family going. But even that has been denied to us,” she says.The anger intensified across North Bengal too. On August 21, women blocked National Highway-31 in Dhupguri, demanding payment under the scheme. In Cooch Behar’s Mathabhanga, nearly 200 women surrounded a BJP office and locked the premises, protesting against their exclusion.“We applied again and again, both online and offline, but still did not receive the money. The prices of essential commodities are soaring. I have only two rooms in my house, yet I was denied the benefit,’’ said Kalpana Ray Barman, one of the protesting women. On the same day, women in Dumdum staged a rail blockade, demanding that the promised financial assistance be released. The journey from Lakshmi Bhandar to Annapurna YojanaLakshmir Bhandar was a social welfare scheme introduced by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee in February 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, aimed at providing financial assistance to women in the state. Initially, women belonging to the general category received Rs 500, while women from SC/ST communities received Rs 700 per month. Applications were collected through the government’s Duare Sarkar camps held across Bengal.Women began receiving the payments in September that year. Over the years, the monthly assistance was increased. Until last April, women from the general category were receiving Rs 1,500, while those belonging to SC and ST communities were receiving Rs 1,700 per month. As many as 2.42 crore women across West Bengal were beneficiaries of the scheme.However, during the Assembly election campaign, the BJP promised to replace it with a new scheme – Annapurna Bhandar – if it came to power in Bengal. According to BJP’s election promise, women who were already receiving assistance under Lakshmir Bhandar would receive Rs 3,000 monthly, directly into the same bank account.Releasing the party’s Sankalpa Patra – manifesto – BJP leader Smriti Irani announced that all women in the state would be entitled to the benefit. The promise was not just confined to election speeches, the BJP also printed cards about the proposed scheme and distributed them door-to-door among women in Bengal.Women wait in queue outside the Barjora block to seek clarification over their exclusion from Annapurna Yojana. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeOn May 19, just weeks after the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP ousted Banerjee’s government and came to power in the state, the new government issued an official notification on the scheme. This remains the first, and, so far, the only official government notification issued on the scheme.But are women receiving the financial assistance promised by the BJP before the election? And what did the government’s notification say about the Annapurna Yojana? These are the questions at the heart of an unfolding ground reality emerging across Bengal.What did the government say in its notification?The secretary of the Bengal government’s department of women and child development and social welfare, on May 19, issued a notification introducing the Annapurna Yojona to provide all women residing in the state with an assured monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month. It had the following conditions:That she is aged between 25 to 60 yearsThat she is not a permanent government employee getting regular salary/ pension under the Union or state government, any statutory body, government undertaking, panchayat, municipal body, local body; teaching or non-teaching employment under the state government’s aided educational institution etcThat she does not pay any income tax.The stipulated financial assistance of Rs 3000 per month shall be credited directly through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), to the Aadhaar-linked bank account in the name of the beneficiary, with effect from June 1, 2026.All the existing beneficiaries of Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme shall be migrated to the Annapurna Yojana except dead, sifting, deleted and absentee electors identified during SIR 2026, deletion in the second list after publication of draft list, deleted after adjudication, ASDD found during voter slip distribution. Beneficiaries who have filed appeals before the SIR tribunal/applications under Citizenship (Amendment) Act, shall get financial assistance under the new scheme till disposal of their applications. Likewise, names of dead and shifted beneficiaries will be deleted in future on a regular basis.For new applicants, an online application facility shall be launched in Annapurna Yojana Portal with effect from June 1, 2026.The applications received under the Annapurna Yojana shall be duly enquired into by the government officials authorized for this purpose. After verification/ enquiry, the BDOs in rural areas and the SDOs in urban areas shall recommend the list of eligible applicants online to the district magistrate for sanction. In areas with the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, this process shall be completed by the officers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The enquiry report of sanctioned cases will be uploaded at the Annapurna Yojana portal.Concerned district magistrates shall act as sanctioning authorities in the districts and the commissioners, Kolkata Municipal Corporation shall act as the sanctioning authority in KMC area. Struggle for Annapurna benefitsSoon after the government notification, women across West Bengal began queuing up outside post offices and banks, from midnight to dusk, to link their mobile phone numbers with their Aadhaar cards. Several women fell ill while standing for hours in the intense summer heat, especially in Bankura and Purulia.There was no such requirement for beneficiaries under Lakshmir Bhandar, whereas for the new scheme, many women who did not own mobile phones had to purchase one simply to complete the process.Meanwhile, the BJP informally announced that camps would be organised at different locations where women could submit their forms offline. For three days, these camps witnessed chaos and confusion. But the process did not end there. “We had to fill up the 13 page form online all over again, spending Rs 150,” says Monika Nandi, a resident of the Kadakoli area of Bishnupur town in Bankura.Women stage protest in Uttarpara. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeThe first payment under the Annapurna scheme was made in June. According to the official data, 28.25 lakh women received Rs 3,000 each at that time. But the women were then asked to apply afresh. No payment was made to them in July. The next payment was made between August 17 and 20. The Bengal government has stated that 1.45 crore women received Rs 3,000 each in this second round of payments.It was after this second round of payments that protests by women who were left out began spreading across the state. Village after village, women are now coming forward with complaints that they have been excluded from the scheme despite completing the required procedures and fulfilling the eligibility conditions.A suicideOn August 22, Anita Khatun, a housewife from Bachar village under Karkach gram panchayat in Gazole block of Malda district, allegedly died by suicide at her home after not receiving the financial assistance promised under the Annapurna Yojona. Her husband Injamul Haque is a marginal farmer. The couple have two children and, according to their family, were struggling to make ends meet. On August 17, Anita went to the bank and found that no money had been credited to her account. Family members said she became increasingly distressed after making several trips to the bank and eventually took the extreme step.Her death has brought into sharp focus the desperation among women who have been excluded from the scheme. A few days ago, during a protest in Bishnupur, in Bankura district, Monika Nandi, wife of a well-known Bishnupur Shankha artisan, Shadhan Chadra Nandi, lay down on the road in protest, demanding that the government release the Annapurna benefit.Monika Nandi, visibly distressed, sat down on the road during a protest in Bishnupur, demanding Annapurna Yojana benefits. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeThe central question throughout for all the women struggling remains the same: if the government promised the benefit before the election, why are genuine beneficiaries being made to run from pillar to post to receive the money?The burden of microfinance repaymentsIn these villages, the situation is particularly grim ever since their work under MGNREGS has stopped. Government housing promised to poor families has not materialised, and the men of the many households have been forced to migrate to other states in search of work. Left behind to run their families, women say they have been compelled to borrow from microfinance companies at high interest rates simply to survive. The small amount they used to receive under Lakshmir Bhandar had become a lifeline, many used part of it to pay their weekly loan instalments. “We used a portion of the Lakshmir Bhandar money to pay off our weekly instalments,’’ said Sahina Khatun of Natungram, Bankura-1 block. Like her, Parveen Khatun and Tajmina Bibi too had hoped that the promised Rs 3,000 under the Annapurna Yojana would finally allow them to clear their outstanding instalments. “We thought that once Rs 3,000 started coming, we would be able to pay off all our instalments. But we did not receive the money. And now the microfinance agents are putting pressure on us,’’ they said.On Wednesday (August 26) morning, Putul Karenga, a homemaker from Dhaldanga village, Bankura, was unable to repay her microfinance instalment. According to her, an agent of the microfinance company came to her house and took away her Aadhaar card and bank passbook because she failed to meet the deadline. Similar accounts emerged from Galsi in Paschim Bardhaman, and Memari, Raina in Purba Bardhaman, and in Shitla village of Bankura. This trap of debt and despair is the new scenario for many women in rural Bengal, they say.Confusion over the rulesThe government’s handling of the Annapurna Yojana has also raised questions. A panchayat employee in Purulia confirmed to The Wire that the government notification issued in June remains the first and only formal guideline issued on the scheme.“After that, we were verbally told to collect and add information about matters such as whether an applicant owns a house or a vehicle. There is no government notification laying down these additional requirements. Moreover, different instructions have been issued in different districts. BDOs have been compelled to follow whatever directions they receive from District Magistrates,’’ the employee said on the condition of anonymity.Women block roads in Sonamukhi. Photo: Madhu Sudan ChatterjeeThe scrutiny process has also placed an additional burden on Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, many of whom were allegedly asked to examine online applications and submit reports without receiving any formal training.“We had to leave our own work aside and carry out this additional task. Now, in some places, panchayat officials are telling women who did not receive the money that they were excluded because of scrutiny by Anganwadi workers, That is simply not true,” said Indrani Mukerjee, state general secretary of Poshimbanga Rajya ICDS Kormi Samity, speaking to The Wire. She said that misinformation had resulted in protests being directed at ICDS workers themselves. “In some places, people have even protested outside the homes of ICDS workers. Such an incident took place in Akhna village in Hooghly on August 21”, she said.How has the government responded?As protests intensified across West Bengal, the BJP government in Bengal announced two measures to address the growing anger.The first came on August 22, when chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, addressing a BJP Mahila Morcha meeting in Bhawanipur, Kolkata, announced that September 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, would be observed as ‘Annapurna Day’ across West Bengal. “On that day, Annapurna beneficiaries will gather in every district. In Kolkata, we will bring together one lakh Annapurna beneficiaries to celebrate Modi ji’s birthday,’’ the chief minister said. The Telegraph Metro’s report on CM Suvendu Adhikari’s announcementAt the same meeting, the chief minister also issued a sharp warning to the protesting women. “I have said it clearly: Suvendu Adhikari is not someone who will bow down simply because 20, 25 or 50 people gather and stand before the media delivering lectures,” he said.The remarks have triggered further questions from protesting women across the state. “Let the chief minister explain why eligible women have been left out. Has he forgotten the promises made before the election?’’ asked Monika Nandi, who was among the women gathered in protest in Bishnupur.The second major step came on August 21. Moumita Godra Basu, secretary of Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, held a virtual meeting with BDOs across the state and instructed them to organise help camps at every BDO office to address complaints relating to the Annapurna Yojana. The scale of the problem becomes clearer from the government’s own figures. Around 1.80 lakh women had applied for the Annapura Yojana in the state. By July 10, the details of 1.63 lakh applicants had been verified, of whom 1.45 lakh were identified as eligible. The Annapurna Yojana portal on the state government’s website, socialsecurity.wb.gov.in, had remained closed since July 31. It has now been reopened.As a result, women can, once again, approach their respective block offices to raise complaints, check why they were excluded and submit fresh information where necessary.Across several blocks, long queues of women have already begun forming as they seek answers and attempt to rectify the information recorded against their names. But they ask one question: would the government have taken these steps at all if women had not raised their voices in protest?