Kolkata: From blocking a state highway to gathering outside a BDO office, women staged protests in different districts like Harishchandrapur in Malda, Kharagpur in West Midnapore, Krishnaganj in Nadia, Asansol and Khandoghosh in Burdwan, Polba in Hooghly and Panchla and Udaynarayanpur in Howrah on Monday over non-receipt of Rs 3,000 benefit under Annapurna Yojana scheme.The protesters claimed that four months had passed since submission of their applications but they had not received the direct benefit transfer.Tension erupted outside the BDO office in Harishchandrapur-I as angry women were stopped from meeting BDO Debasis Samanta. As workers locked the gates sensing trouble, hundreds of women gathered outside and staged an agitation. Some women were also locked inside as guardrails were being put up.A message was reportedly circulated in the locality that the pending money would be disbursed on Monday. Alema Khatun of Santoshpur village said: “I did not get the money even once. My application is showing as ‘pending’. We came to see the BDO but he did not meet us.”The tension continued for more than an hour till police came to release the women locked inside the office and controlled the situation.In Kharagpur, women blocked the state highway in front of Kharagpur municipality. They lifted the stir following police intervention but continued protesting by surrounding the chairperson’s office.Municipality chairperson Kalyani Ghosh said: “We will send the applications to the DM and request that arrangements be made immediately so that those who have not been receiving the money can get it without delay.”Several women protested at the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDO) office in West Burdwan’s Asansol and got into an argument with cops after their grievances were not resolved. Later, they blocked the road outside. In a separate protest at Khandoghosh of East Burdwan, a large number of women blocked the road at Sagrai on Burdwan-Arambagh road in front of the BDO’s office, disrupting traffic.Similar scenes unfolded in Nadia, where women demonstrated outside Krishnaganj block administrative office. They said they had applied for the scheme with all documents but despite a long wait, no financial aid had reached their bank accounts.In Hooghly, BJP women workers were accused of locking up the Sugandha panchayat office in Polba and staging a protest, claiming that they were yet to receive Annapurna benefits. The women claimed they had approached the Chinsurah MLA, but the matter remained unresolved.In Howrah, several women demonstrated outside the Panchla BDO office, alleging that they had not received payments for the past four months. The protesters blocked the road in front of the BDO office, prompting administrative officials to reach the spot. Women also blocked roads in Udaynarayanpur.
