Kolkata: The state govt is preparing to introduce an “edit” option on the Annapurna Yojana portal to address widespread complaints over rejected applications, officials said. This feature will allow applicants whose forms have been rejected to correct errors and update information without submitting fresh applications.In a meeting last week, chief secretary Manoj Agarwal said the govt received 1.6 crore applications under the scheme. Of them, 1.2 crore have been approved, while 27.8 lakh have been rejected.According to a senior official, most rejections were caused by discrepancies in Aadhaar and mobile number details rather than ineligibility.“In many cases, applicants either failed to link their Aadhaar with current mobile number or used different numbers while applying for various govt schemes. Some applicants were also found to have used the same mobile number for multiple welfare schemes, including PM-Kisan, leading to verification conflicts,” the official said, adding the “edit” facility will enable rejected applicants to log into the portal, view the reason for rejection, and rectify errors.The administration also clarified that several women who received benefits under Lakshmir Bhandar in June did not receive Annapurna payments in July as discrepancies emerged during verification. In some cases, payments could not be processed despite approval because of incorrect or inconsistent beneficiary details.Subsequently, the administration has also begun a door-to-door verification drive for applicants whose application status was marked as “Application Rejected” or “Under Enquiry”. According to officials, the exercise has been initiated to ensure that no eligible applicant is deprived of the benefits due to technical errors, discrepancies in documents, or KYC-related issues.The administration aims to complete scrutiny of all rejected applications by July 10.Senior officials said that once the “edit” option becomes operational and pending verification is completed, eligible women aged between 25 and 60 will start receiving financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month directly in their bank accounts.According to officials, the stricter verification process has significantly reduced the number of beneficiaries compared with the previous Trinamool govt’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, which covered about 2.2 crore women. Govt employees and pensioners, income tax payers, and financially well-off women, who are ineligible for Annapurna Yojana, have been excluded after scrutiny, officials said.The BJP govt allocated Rs 36,000 crore for Annapurna Yojana in its maiden state budget.Target to complete scrutiny of all rejected applications by July 10
