West Bengal govt's 'Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme to include 1.6 crore beneficiaries: Official

KOLKATA: Around 1.6 crore beneficiaries would be part of a West Bengal government scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to women heads of families, a senior official said on Saturday.

The state has already prepared a database of some eligible beneficiaries, which can be readily used to launch the initiative - 'Lakshmir Bhandar', he said.

"We will start working towards implementation of the scheme from July 1. An estimation of a total of 1.6 crore beneficiaries has been made," the official said.

Under the programme, the state government has promised to provide Rs 1,000 per month to women heads of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families, and Rs 500 per month to those belonging to general category.

The state government would incur a cost of Rs 11,000 crore annually to fund the scheme, which was a part of the Trinamool Congress' election manifesto.

However, the state's finance department might have to slash allotments for other departments to implement the initiative, the official said.

"We have to arrange for funds from other sources, too, and we have started doing that," another official of the finance department said.

He said there are also plans to introduce some eligibility criteria for women to avail the scheme, including the disclosure of family income.