Kolkata: The BJP govt in Bengal has decided to retain the social welfare schemes introduced during the previous Trinamool regime but plans a comprehensive review of beneficiaries to eliminate irregularities and ensure that benefits reach only deserving individuals, officials said.The decision follows reports alleging widespread irregularities, including the inclusion of ineligible persons through political influence and multiple members of the same family receiving benefits under the same scheme.Officials said a door-to-door verification drive will be carried out, if necessary, to identify genuine beneficiaries and a fresh list of beneficiaries will be prepared for all major welfare programmes.In his budget speech, state finance minister Swapan Dasgupta had said all existing social security schemes would continue, though necessary reforms would be introduced to improve their effectiveness. He said the govt was committed to human resource development but would ensure that help reached vulnerable sections of society.“The social welfare schemes introduced by the previous govt will continue. But the beneficiaries will be thoroughly vetted, and the process has begun. If required, door-to-door visits will be conducted to weed out ineligible individuals,” an official said.“Primarily, the administration will cross-verify existing beneficiaries’ details with the final electoral roll. Names that were deleted from the final roll will be identified and removed from the social welfare schemes. Our objective is very clear: only deserving and genuine Indian citizens should receive these benefits,” another official said.Bengal had over 7.6 crore voters before the special intensive revision of the electoral roll started in Nov last year. Post-SIR, the electorate shrank to 6.8 crore, with around 27 lakh appeals against deletion under consideration of judicial tribunals.As part of the verification exercise, disbursements under certain schemes, including old-age and widow pensions, were temporarily halted for many beneficiaries. Officials said applications for enrolment received at recent public outreach camps — ‘Jan Kalyan Shivir’ — will be scrutinised. Applications can also be submitted in govt offices. New eligibility criteria are expected to be introduced.“The govt’s sole objective is to ensure that only genuine individuals benefit from these schemes. It has come to our notice that many individuals are receiving benefits despite being ineligible. The govt plans to introduce more stringent eligibility criteria to weed out fake and ineligible beneficiaries,” an official said.The state govt has already scrapped the Krishak Bandhu scheme, launched by the previous Trinamool govt, citing large-scale fraud. However, the state budget announced an annual financial assistance of Rs 3,000 for each farmer under a revised framework. State agriculture department officials said more than 40% of existing beneficiaries could be removed after verification.When Trinamool was in office, farmers owning an acre or more land received Rs 10,000 annually and those with smaller holdings and sharecroppers received Rs 4,000 a year under the Krishak Bandhu scheme. Officials alleged that multiple beneficiaries were often registered against the same plot, while several families had more than one member receiving benefits.The govt is preparing a stricter verification mechanism for the new farmer assistance programme as part of its broader effort to curb leakages, improve transparency and rationalise welfare spending.Kanyashree Prakalpa/ 96.3 lakhRupashree Prakalpa/ 1,43,191