In April 2026, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers went door-to-door in West Bengal promising every woman who received INR 1,500 under former Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme that they would now get double that amount. What they conspicuously ignored was the fact that there would be a lot of paperwork involved.
The Lakshmir Bhandar scheme was launched by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2021. The application form consisted of a one-page document that only asked for the woman’s name, address, marital status, Aadhaar card number, bank details and Swasthya Saathi card number (the West Bengal government’s health insurance card). In addition, applicants had to attach a passport size photograph and, if applicable, a caste certificate.
When the BJP won the assembly elections in West Bengal in May 2026, the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme was renamed the Annapurna Yojana, which promised INR 3,000 to eligible beneficiaries. The program application form was released on May 27, 2026. However, unlike the Lakshmir Bhandar form, this one was 12 pages long.
The state’s intention was to provide financial assistance to eligible women, and this form contained all the information necessary to legally process their applications. However, when the BJP won the assembly elections in West Bengal in May 2026, the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme was renamed the Annapurna Yojana, which promised INR 3,000 to eligible beneficiaries. The program application form was released on May 27, 2026. However, unlike the Lakshmir Bhandar form, this one was 12 pages long.
What does the Annapurna Yojana form require?
The form for the Annapurna program is titled “Annapurna Yojana Family Level Data Collection Form.” Not only information about the applicant is requested, but also information about each individual member of her household. The sheer amount of information the government requires from those seeking to benefit from the system is confusing and risks excluding the most vulnerable from the system, as uneducated women may not be able to complete such a detailed form themselves.
Here is a simple breakdown of what the BJP government is demanding:
Identity: Full Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Aadhar Card Number, Voter ID Number, Constituency and Voter Roll Part Number. All of this is added, not just to the applicant, but to every adult family member in her household.
Assets: The form requests information about whether the applicant’s residence consists of three or more pucca rooms. In addition, the exact size of all properties down to the decimal place must be checked against the list of rights. Information is also required for all non-commercial motorized four-wheelers owned by a household member, including model name and vehicle registration number.
The section of the Annapurna Bhandar form that asks for the banking details of each household member. Image source: wb.gov.in
Income/Occupation: The form also requires information about the household’s annual income, field of employment, and educational qualifications of each adult family member. In addition, applicants must provide the PAN details of all adults and disclose whether any family member pays income tax, business tax or is registered in the GST system.
The part of the Annapurna Bhandar form that asks for GST registration status. Image source: wb.gov.in
Political Status: Applicants must disclose whether a family member is or has been an MP, MLA or Panchayat representative. The form also asks whether a household member receives a state pension or holds a teaching or non-teaching position in a state-funded institution.
Social status: The form requires applicants to provide details of all health insurance coverage in the household, including the type of insurance, the amount of premium and the sum insured for each family member.
Additionally, the form asks whether the applicant has claimed citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. However, the question remains: If the purpose of the Annapurna Yojana is to deposit money into bank accounts of poor women, why is this information relevant?
The part of the Annapurna Bhandar form that asks about the history of CAA appeals. Image source: wb.gov.in
Data breaches and privacy concerns
In data management, there is a principle known as data minimization, which states that personal data collected for a specific purpose should be limited to the minimum necessary to achieve the stated goal. The Annapurna Bhandar form fails this test in almost every respect.
In data management, there is a principle known as data minimization, which states that personal data collected for a specific purpose should be limited to the minimum necessary to achieve the stated goal. The Annapurna Bhandar form fails this test in almost every respect.
Why does the government need to know whether a woman’s son owns a vehicle and why should that determine whether she is entitled to the promised INR 3,000? Or does it matter whether your daughter-in-law has private health insurance or how much she pays in premiums? And why does the government need PAN details of every adult when their income tax status can already be verified through government databases?
In 2023, India passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Actthe country’s first comprehensive data law. It stipulates that such data may only be collected if the stated purpose is logical. However, the law also provides for an exception that is reserved exclusively for the government: the citizen-side protective measures will not come into force until mid-2027. And that gives the government the freedom to collect as much data as possible in the meantime because the public doesn’t have the right to challenge it. But for women who don’t want to reveal much about their already vulnerable position in society, this form is a brick wall. And an insurmountable one.
The BJP government justifies the new form by saying that it includes 30 lakh Lakhshmir Bhandar beneficiaries deceased women or non-citizens. Now only women whose names appear in the electoral rolls are allowed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bengal are eligible for the Annapurna Yojana. At the end of 2025, several thousand women were removed from the Bengali electoral rolls. Some of them had informal marriages, their names were misspelled, or they shared addresses with other people. These are the very people a welfare system of this kind should protect, but this 12-page form ensures they are categorically excluded.
What should a form of welfare ideally look like?
If a system is designed to transfer money to economically and socially disadvantaged women, it only needs to know four things: (a) Is the applicant a woman? (b) Does she live in West Bengal? (c) Does she belong to a household that does not receive a government salary? (d) What are your bank account details?
The Lakshmir Bhandar form of TMC government. Image source: wb.gov.in
Despite its shortcomings, the TMC government has asked for just that in Lakshmir Bhandar’s application form. But the Annapurna-Bhandar form feels like an immigration check disguised as data collection. This form of welfare is therefore much more about figuring out who to exclude than about determining who should benefit.
Sohini (she/her) hails from Kolkata and loves to research and write about everything related to society, culture and gender. With a background in journalism and English literature, they have finally managed to make heartfelt conversations a big part of their lives outside of the usual boxes.
