Annapurna fury rocks Bengal as women storm Seva Setu camps, block roads

• Annapurna payment delays triggered protests across Bengal on the opening day of the three-day Seva Setu Abhiyan, with women confronting officials and blocking roads.

• Incidents were reported across Malda, Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura and West Burdwan, with alleged damage to camp property in some places.

• The unrest came as around 3,300 Seva Setu camps opened across the state to provide access to around 60 welfare schemes and resolve pending applications. 

What was meant to be a three-day exercise to take government services closer to the people turned into a statewide flashpoint on Friday, as women demanding long-delayed Annapurna payments confronted officials, blocked roads and, in several places, allegedly damaged property at Seva Setu camps.

The scale of the unrest was striking. From Malda and Cooch Behar in north Bengal to Hooghly, Howrah, West Burdwan and Bankura further south, women arrived at camps expecting answers on their applications and payments, only to find themselves confronting what they described as delays, unclear processing and, in some cases, the absence of dedicated Annapurna counters.

The Seva Setu Abhiyan camps, being held from 2 to 4 October across Kolkata’s 16 boroughs and the state’s blocks and municipalities, were designed as a one-stop mechanism for accessing government schemes. Around 3,300 camps have been set up across the state, covering around 60 welfare schemes, including Annapurna, Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and various pension schemes. The camps are also meant to help applicants whose earlier applications were rejected understand the reasons and address pending issues.

But on the opening day, Annapurna quickly became the dominant grievance.

In Harishchandrapur-I in Malda, the dispute took a more personal turn. Women accused BDO Dhrubashis Samanta of making objectionable remarks when they went to submit Annapurna applications. One protester alleged, "When we went to submit the forms, the BDO said these papers had no value and were being accepted only to appease us."

Local BJP leaders demanded a public apology, threatening to approach the District Magistrate and the chief minister if one was not forthcoming. Samanta declined to comment in detail and said false rumours were being spread.

At Maharajnagar High Madrasa in Ratua-II, Malda, another protest turned volatile. Mostly women questioned why Annapurna-related work was not being carried out at the Seva Setu camp. Chairs and other camp property were allegedly damaged, while protesters reportedly surrounded a police vehicle.

Malda superintendent of police Anupam Singh said protests had occurred in several places but "no one was arrested or detained", adding that police were present at the camps and had helped restore normality. Reports from Malda also said the situation at the Maharajnagar camp was brought under control after police intervened.

In Cooch Behar, women gathered at Rabindra Bhavan with a similar complaint: payments had allegedly not arrived for nearly four months despite repeated applications and approaches to government departments.

"For nearly four months, the scheme’s funds haven’t been credited to my bank account. I used to receive the Lakshmir Bhandar earlier," one woman said.

Another protester declared, "We will not allow any other services to operate until the Annapurna issue is resolved."

Police from Kotwali station intervened after the protest temporarily disrupted services at the camp. Reports from other parts of north Bengal also indicated repeated protests, with some women complaining that camps lacked dedicated Annapurna counters. In Karandighi in North Dinajpur, the situation reportedly eased after officials began accepting Annapurna forms.

The anger then travelled south.

In Barasat, women blocked Taki Road outside the Karmatirtha camp, saying some had been waiting for months for Annapurna payments and had come expecting the camp to resolve their problems, only to find that the relevant work was not being undertaken.

Barasat municipal administrator Raja Bhowmik sought to reassure them, saying, "Perhaps not everyone has received it yet, but they will get it in due course."

Similar scenes were reported in Madhyamgram and at camps in Uluberia, Udaynarayanpur and Polba-Dadpur. At Uluberia’s Rabindra Bhavan, women became angry after reportedly being told that Annapurna and Ayushman Bharat services would not be provided there. At Udaynarayanpur, chairs and tables were allegedly overturned, while at Polba-Dadpur in Hooghly, banners were reportedly torn and furniture damaged.

BJP worker Satyajit Sarkar argued that confusion had arisen because the camp was not intended to process Annapurna cases. Hooghly District Magistrate Khurshid Ali Qadri, meanwhile, assured beneficiaries that funds would be paid and said that where verification was pending, "the process is underway."

Further protests were reported in Chandrakona, where women blocked the Chandrakona-Ghatal state highway, and in Ranibandh, Bankura, where women staged a sit-in on the Bankura-Jhilimili highway after claiming that their grievances remained unresolved despite approaching the BDO. Police eventually persuaded the protesters to withdraw.

In North Dinajpur, women from areas including Karandighi reportedly staged repeated protests, with complaints that some Seva Setu camps did not have dedicated Annapurna counters. In Basirhat and the Sundarbans, more than 100 women reportedly blocked Taki Road at Gopalpur Crossing under Matia police station, demanding verification of their applications and payment before the Puja festivities.

Hingalganj BDO Devdas Ganguly said no forms were being distributed at the camps.

The anger even spilled into a direct political confrontation in Durgapur West, where women confronted BJP MLA Lakshan Chandra Ghorui at a Seva Setu camp in the Bokaro Hostel area. They alleged that they had been waiting three to four months for payments while people they considered ineligible had received the benefit.

Ghorui accepted their forms and promised to investigate. He said, "Funds will be credited to many accounts before Durga Puja, and those who do not receive it by then will get it in December."

The confrontation in Durgapur was particularly revealing of the political pressure building around the camps. Women arrived carrying photocopies of their applications and printouts showing their application status, and questioned the MLA about why some beneficiaries were receiving payments while they were still waiting. The exchange became heated, with Ghorui asking people to stop filming, according to reports.

The first day of Seva Setu therefore produced an uncomfortable inversion of its stated purpose. A programme designed to bring government services closer to citizens instead brought frustrated beneficiaries face to face with officials and elected representatives, with delayed payments becoming the common thread running through protests across the state.

The pattern was not confined to people seeking fresh enrolment. The state government had specifically positioned the camps as places where people could check the status of Annapurna applications and resolve problems, including rejected applications. That made the complaints over unresolved cases and the absence of Annapurna-related services at some camps particularly significant.

Political analyst Sujit Chatterjee said, "For a programme designed to bring the administration closer to citizens, the first day’s protests offered a stark warning: when a promised welfare payment is delayed and responsibility becomes unclear, the government camp itself can become the focal point of public anger."

With two days of the Seva Setu exercise still to go, the question for the administration is whether Friday’s outbursts were isolated incidents of local frustration — or an indication of a wider problem with the delivery and verification of Annapurna benefits.