A hundred beneficiaries from each block and municipality in the state will be handed token approval letters under the Annapurna Yojana on Wednesday, when the state government is scheduled to release the first tranche of ₹3,000.
In Calcutta, the state has set a steep target of over 90,000 beneficiaries who will receive the aid in their bank accounts on Wednesday.
Sources in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said WBCS (executive) officers, chief engineers and heads of departments have been put in charge of each of the 16 boroughs in Calcutta to meet the target, which appeared difficult to achieve as of Monday evening.
Civic body officials are struggling to meet the target, especially in minority-dominated wards and boroughs of Calcutta where many Muslims have been reluctant to fill out the forms. “They apprehend the government is seeking so much information because it may be used against them. We have tried to convince them that the information is being sought to weed out bogus cases,” said a KMC official.
The length of the application form, running into 12 pages, and the volume of information sought have triggered concerns over whether needy households will be able to access the scheme. Filling out the form has been a challenge for many applicants.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Saturday that the first tranche would be transferred on Wednesday. He said that government officials would visit homes and help women fill out the forms.
A senior KMC official said they were focusing on slums where the concentration of possible beneficiaries is higher than in other areas. The KMC has a list of Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries, and officials are visiting their homes with the Annapurna form.
“At the moment, we want to reach as close to the target as possible. We are going to slums where we are likely to get a large number of beneficiaries, which will help us meet the target,” said an official.
A few Trinamool councillors of the KMC are also helping applicants fill out or distribute forms, sources said. “However, the response from most councillors has been unsatisfactory. They have not taken part in the process despite being informed about distribution and collection of forms,” said an official.
In the districts, the identified 100 beneficiaries will be given token approval letters. “Though the aid will be directly credited to bank accounts, token approval letters will be made for the occasion. As the chief minister flags off the programme, we will start distributing the approval letters,” said an official in a district.
State government sources said once the first tranche is released on Wednesday, camps are likely to be set up across the city in every ward or borough to enrol potential beneficiaries.