A group of villagers in Cooch Behar 1 block resorted to protests and staged a road blockade for four hours on Friday, alleging that their names were not included in the list of beneficiaries of the Bangla Awas Yojana.

The agitation prompted 21 members of the local panchayat and three members of the panchayat samiti — who all are from the Trinamool Congress — to lend their support to the protesters and announce that they would step down.

Around 10am, over 100 residents of Dudherkuthi and Dewanbos, two villages in Suktabari panchayat, walked up to the Cooch Behar-Mathabhanga state highway. They were carrying placards and banners and demanded that their names be included in the beneficiaries’ list.

“Teams came to our villages and surveyed around 10 households. All these families deserve the financial assistance that the state will pay for the construction of houses. However, when the administration published the list, it was found that the names of only three families from these villages were there. That is why we have resorted to protests,” said Majibul Haque, a villager who joined the blockade.

The demonstrators said around three years back, a storm had razed over 100 houses in the area. “Since then, we have not received any assistance from the state to build our houses. All of us were banking on the housing scheme as the state announced that it would pay money to eligible beneficiaries. But our names have been deleted for no reason,” said another protester.

As the protests continued, TMC members of the Suktabari panchayat — there are 21 members, all from the same party — and three members of the Cooch Behar I panchayat samiti from the TMC, said they would step down.

“We stand in support of the villagers. Many genuine beneficiaries have not been included in the list. In protest, we have decided to step down from our posts,” said Sirajul Haque, a panchayat member and the TMC president of the panchayat-level committee.

Because of the protest, traffic came to a halt along the route. Later, some officials of the district administration, along with Abdul Jalil Ahmed, the deputy chief of the Cooch Behar zilla parishad, went to the spot and spoke with the protesters.

Based on their assurance, the blockade was lifted at 2pm. “We have withdrawn the protests as they have promised necessary intervention. If our names are not included in the list, we will resume our movement,” said a villager.

Similarly, residents of Dwiparpar, a village in the Tufanganj 1 block, staged a blockade on a state highway, on the same demand. It started at noon and continued till 2pm.

“We want the block administration to conduct a fresh survey and include names of all such people who are eligible for the assistance under the housing scheme,” said Ahiran Bewa, a demonstrator.