The Union government has launched a comprehensive review of central schemes in West Bengal after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decisive victory in the state assembly elections, according to three people aware of the development.
A fractious relationship between the state and Centre—run by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, respectively—meant several central schemes became mired in disputes.
Now, with the BJP winning an absolute majority in the state assembly, the Centre has directed ministries to identify schemes that remained stalled, under-implemented or non-operational under the outgoing TMC government.
The exercise is expected to accelerate the rollout of schemes that either did not take off or saw limited implementation in the state, including Ayushman Bharat, earlier phases of Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin, PM Gati Shakti and the Jal Jeevan Mission, among others.
One of the people cited above said the Centre is also examining the status of infrastructure projects, including rural roads, drinking water supply, healthcare facilities and logistics connectivity, “to prepare a priority execution roadmap for the state”.
“The West Bengal government has not participated in the previous two surveys of Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 1.0 and 2.0, citing data insecurity,” another person said.
The review covers both Centrally Sponsored Schemes, jointly funded by the Centre and states, and Central Sector Schemes, which are fully financed by the Union government.
Data from the finance ministry showed that currently, 54 Centrally Sponsored Schemes and 260 Central Sector Schemes with a ₹28 trillion corpus have been implemented across sectors such as rural development, agriculture, housing, healthcare, education, drinking water and food security in the country.
Queries sent to the spokespersons of the Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet secretariat, and the ministries of finance, consumer affairs, food and public distribution, textiles, rural development, panchayati raj, agriculture, health and family welfare, jal shakti, and housing and urban affairs, as well as the West Bengal government, on Wednesday remained unanswered till press time.
Rising expectations
Stakeholders across industry and politics expressed expectations of improved coordination and faster execution of projects.
“The new political mandate in West Bengal reflects people’s expectations for faster implementation of central schemes. Improved coordination between the Centre and the state administration would help accelerate infrastructure development, welfare delivery and investment activity,” said BJP leader Ram Surat Rai, former minister of revenue and land reforms in the Bihar government.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan said the Centre must ensure that welfare schemes are implemented transparently and without political considerations, adding that development funds should be used to strengthen public service delivery and create employment opportunities in West Bengal.
“The new government should also focus on protecting homebuyers’ rights,” said Abhay Upadhyay, member of the Central Advisory Council-Rera in the ministry of housing and urban affairs. He pointed out that despite implementation of the Rera Act, the committee formed to oversee its functioning comprised mostly developers, with no representation from homebuyers, which needs to be reviewed.
Sushmita Dev, national spokesperson, All India Trinamool Congress and Rajya Sabha MP, said that government schemes are meant for all citizens and their benefits should not depend on whether people voted for a particular party.
“In the case of MGNREGA, the Centre withheld funds because the state government was run by an opposition party, but the real impact was felt by the people of West Bengal. If the funds are released, it will help the poor and rural who were deprived for purely political reasons,” Dev said.
“Similarly, Ayushman Bharat has not performed well in several states, while Swasthya Sathi health scheme introduced by the TMC government was considered more effective. It is for the state government to decide which schemes to continue, but any abrupt changes could affect people who were benefiting from the existing healthcare system,” Dev said.
However, according to a PIB release dated 4 August 2025, Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the West Bengal government had “badly failed” in the effective implementation of MGNREGA. He said that central teams that investigated 19 districts between 2019 and 2022 found “massive irregularities”, including alleged fund misappropriation, rule violations and absence of work at project sites, following which the Centre stopped releasing funds to the state under Section 27 of the Act.
Nishant Kumar, associate professor, Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said that the BJP will have to demonstrate that governance changes can translate into administrative delivery and economic transformation.
“Implementation of welfare schemes by allocating funds for rural employment schemes and Ayushman Bharat may provide immediate traction, but industrial expansion, infrastructure creation, law-and-order management and investment confidence will be the real tests for the new administration,” said Kumar.
Some of the prominent promises made in the BJP’s manifesto for West Bengal include implementation of Ayushman Bharat, rollout of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), expansion of welfare support for women, industrial revival, infrastructure development, strengthening law and order, etc.
Industry has shown confidence in the BJP, especially as several activities such as toll collection were largely handled by non-state actors during the previous regime.
“We are expecting massive growth in West Bengal,” said Arun Kumar Garodia, managing director of a Kolkata-based company Corona Steel Industry Pvt Ltd. “Development of infrastructure, ports and other sectors will create huge employment opportunities not only for the state but for the entire eastern region. It will boost industrial activity and generate investment opportunities.”
“We are optimistic that the new regime will help the industry flourish. We also expect that unauthorised trade from Bangladesh will be curbed, providing a stronger boost to Indian industry, ” said Badish Jindal, managing director, Shakti Corporation, a steel maker.