WEST BENGAL MAY SAVE UP TO ₹25,000 CRORE AS LAKHS OF WELFARE BENEFICIARIES REMAIN UNTRACEABLE

October 30, 2026

KOLKATA, OCTOBER 30, 2026: The West Bengal government may save between ₹20,000 crore and ₹25,000 crore after failing to trace lakhs of beneficiaries registered under several welfare schemes introduced by the previous Trinamool Congress-led government, according to senior state officials.

Following the change of government, officials attempted to contact beneficiaries of schemes including Swasthya Sathi, Khadya Sathi and Krishak Bandhu, with the intention of shifting eligible recipients to alternative central or newly introduced state programmes. However, officials reportedly found between 20 lakh and 30 lakh beneficiaries untraceable under each major scheme.

Under Swasthya Sathi, more than 30 lakh beneficiaries could reportedly not be located. The scheme had registered approximately 2.45 crore families and provided cashless health coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per family. The state had spent around ₹14,000 crore on the programme since its launch in 2017.

Officials also reported that more than 25 lakh Khadya Sathi beneficiaries could not be traced. The food-security scheme provided free or subsidised foodgrains to nearly two crore people, with annual expenditure estimated at around ₹12,000 crore.

Similarly, more than 20 lakh beneficiaries registered under Krishak Bandhu could reportedly not be located during efforts to shift eligible farmers and sharecroppers to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi programme. The report states that the scheme had covered approximately 1.12 crore farmers and sharecroppers, despite the state's estimated total farmer population being 72 lakh.

The government is yet to establish whether the untraceable welfare beneficiaries correspond to the 58 lakh absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters identified during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Officials indicated that further verification would be necessary to establish any connection.

The projected savings remain an estimate, and the identification and removal of ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries will depend on the completion of the government's verification process.