A division bench of the Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal government to clarify why financial aid under a women-focused state scheme was discontinued in a specific village panchayat in East Midnapore, the home district of Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. The court, led by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, has instructed the state government to provide a report within two weeks.
This directive follows a public interest litigation filed at the Calcutta High Court, alleging that the state government had suspended financial benefits under the Laxmir Bhandar scheme for 7,000 women in Bagcha Village Panchayat in East Midnapore district, represented by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ashok Dinda, a former Indian cricketer. The Laxmir Bhandar initiative is a monthly financial assistance program for women, with Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women receiving Rs 1,200 per month, and other women receiving Rs 1,000.
During the court proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel, senior Bilwadal Bhattacharya, argued that benefits for the 7,000 women in Bagcha Village Panchayat had been halted since September last year. Bhattacharya accused the state government of intentionally suspending the financial aid because the panchayat is under BJP’s administration. He highlighted that the benefits should have been directly transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts as per the scheme’s guidelines.
While the state government’s counsel mentioned ongoing investigations into complaints regarding benefit allocations, the division bench ultimately sided with the petitioner’s arguments and requested clarifications from the state authorities.
