West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced new initiatives from the state government for the welfare of people, including affordable rice and fish meals, Annapurna Yojana, and rules for liquor shops.
Adhikari said that from May 27, his government will start issuing models for the Annapurna Yojana, under which women will get… $3000 per month.
He further said that liquor shops will not be allowed within a one-kilometre radius of schools, colleges and places of worship.
The Prime Minister also said that his government will provide fish and rice meals $It will start on January 5 in about 400 designated canteens twice a week, news agency PTI reported.
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“The Annapurna Yojana forms will be issued by the state secretariat from tomorrow. All Indians are eligible for benefits under the programme,” Adhikari told reporters after an administrative meeting in Kalyani Nadiya.
He further stated that the West Bengal government will also set up an AYUSH department, separating it from the state health department.
Suvendu Adhikari has announced a slew of initiatives and schemes, and taken many decisions for the benefit of the state, since he was sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal on May 9. He became the first chief minister of the BJP government in the state after the saffron party registered a landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, ending Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s nearly 15-year rule.
Suvendu series of decisions in Bengal
A crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Last week, the Prime Minister directed all district judges to set up “detention centres” for illegal immigrants caught before they are deported, with the BJP’s election promise to “detect, delete and deport” all foreigners.
The Foreigners Branch, SAARC Visa Division, under the state Home Ministry, headed by Adhikari, issued an order saying detention centers should be set up after the May 2025 order of the Union Home Ministry.
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The directive came days after Adhikari ordered a crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi migrants and asked the state police to detain them and hand them over to the Border Security Forces for deportation.
New recruitment policy–
The West Bengal minister also said that the state government will introduce a new recruitment policy in the upcoming budget session to curb irregularities in public sector recruitment.
“The state government will launch a new employment policy in the next budget session. We will introduce bills in the next Assembly to support the new policy,” he said at an event in Kolkata on May 23.
Investigation into the violence that followed the 2021 elections..
Previously, Adhikari had ordered police stations across the state to launch an investigation into the 2021 post-election violence, saying FIRs should be lodged in every incident of murder and assault that was not investigated earlier.
“They called on the families of those who died or were injured in political violence over the past five years to file complaints with evidence. If they do not have evidence, the police will investigate and file FIRs,” Adhikari said.
He described the 2021 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal as a “black chapter”, adding that workers were hounded and killed at that time. “As many as 12,500 first information reports have been filed. If the accused are found guilty, we will put them in jail,” he added.
