West Bengal Renames Rural Housing Scheme to ‘Paschim Banga Awas’; Second Instalment for 10 Lakh Families from August 6

PTI, August 5, 2026, Kolkata : The West Bengal government has renamed the state-funded rural housing scheme ‘Banglar Bari’ to ‘Paschim Banga Awas’ and will start releasing the second instalment of financial assistance to 10 lakh beneficiary families from August 6, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will launch the fund transfer at a programme at Nabanna Sabhaghar, a venue adjacent to the state secretariat, he said.

The beneficiaries are among the 18 lakh families identified under the housing scheme during the previous TMC regime, he said.

While the first instalment was released before the Assembly elections in April, the second remained pending, the official said.

“After a fresh verification of beneficiaries, the current state government has decided to continue the scheme under a new name, ‘Paschim Banga Awas’, replacing ‘Banglar Bari’,” he said.

A senior officer at the state secretariat, Nabanna, said the government had completed a detailed verification exercise before approving the release of the next instalment.

“Only beneficiaries who have completed construction up to the lintel level using the first instalment have been found eligible for the second instalment. We wanted to ensure that every rupee reaches genuine beneficiaries and that the scheme guidelines are followed in letter and spirit,” the official told PTI.

A special survey conducted under the supervision of Panchayat Secretary P. Ulaganathan found that around 10 lakh of the 18 lakh sanctioned beneficiaries had completed construction up to the prescribed stage.

“The remaining beneficiaries have not been left out. Once they complete construction up to the required stage, another round of field verification will be carried out and the second instalment will be released accordingly,” the senior bureaucrat said.

The fresh verification was undertaken following complaints in the past about the inclusion of fake and ineligible beneficiaries in the housing scheme, he said.

Around eight lakh beneficiaries are yet to qualify for the second instalment as they have not completed construction up to the lintel level, he said.

The actual number of pending beneficiaries could be lower as some names were removed during scrutiny.

Those whose cases are pending before the SIR tribunal will receive assistance if they are eventually found eligible, the official said.

Unlike the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’, the scheme is being implemented solely with state funds, the officials said.