Trinamool criticizes 11-page process of filling Annapurna Bhandar form

People queue up to enroll in BJP Govt Annapurna Bhandar scheme in Siliguri. File. | Photo credit: ANI

The Trinamool Congress has criticized the Annapurna Bhandar regime of the Bharatiya Janta Party government in West Bengal for the lengthy form filling process. The Congress state president has also written to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to streamline the process.

“Assurances before voting, only memories after voting,” TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee wrote on his social media on Friday (29. He also shared an alleged mockup of the form shared by the BJP before the elections, which was only half a page, and also shared photos of the 11-page form recently released by the new government.

Annapurna Bhandar is a welfare scheme where women in the state get a direct cash transfer of ₹3,000 to their banks every month. The previous TMC government launched the Lakshmir Bhandar program in 2021 and reached out to nearly 2.4 million women across the state. The TMC government paid ₹1,500 per woman and the BJP promised in the polls to double the number of dolls once they come to power.

The Annapurna Bhandar scheme form requires details like Citizenship (Amendment) Act status, whether names have been deleted under Special Intensive Review (SIR) process, social status of people, vaccination status of children, number of literate and illiterate family members, bank account details of family members, health insurance status, total family assets etc.

TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh took a look at this and asked why the welfare schemes are becoming conditional according to the BJP. “So the new @BJP4Bengal minister’s logic is simple: If you haven’t taken the Indian Govt provided vaccine, don’t bother seeking benefits from Indian Govt social programs!!!” he wrote on his social networks.

Mr. Ghosh also raised questions as to why women have to provide details of their entire family when the cash benefit is exclusively for women.

Meanwhile, social media netizens created memes and sarcastic videos on the 11-page form issued by the state government for the Annapurna Bhandar scheme.

“A page or two is still fine. How do we fill out such a huge form? Are we not that educated? The money was supposed to be mine, why do I have to add my husband’s account details?” the woman asked.

The scheme is set to launch from June 1, but uncertainty over the form filling process has left many in doubt.

“We can provide Aadhaar and voter ID cards, but the number of documents they require cannot be provided by illiterate people like us. We just choose not to fill the form,” said another woman who registered for the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme.

Meanwhile, Congress state president Subhankar Sarkar has written to the West Bengal CM that the long process of filling the forms is causing trouble among the people. “I request you to take immediate and necessary steps by the state government to simplify the form issued for Annapurna Bhandar,” Sarkar’s letter on Friday (May 29, 2026) said.

Published – 30 May 2026 09:56 IST