Browse Schemes by Category
West Bengal runs dozens of welfare schemes across very different areas of life, from farming and food security to student scholarships and senior citizen pensions. Rather than browsing a single long list, this page organises every scheme we cover into 13 categories, so you can go straight to the group of schemes relevant to your situation.
How These Categories Are Organised
Each category below groups schemes by the primary beneficiary group or purpose they serve, not by which government department runs them (since a single beneficiary group, like farmers or students, is often served by schemes from different departments working toward a shared goal). This is meant to match how people actually search and think about their situation: as a farmer looking for support, a parent looking for scholarships for a daughter, or a senior citizen looking for pension options, rather than needing to know the exact department name first.
The 13 Categories
- Social Welfare Schemes — general welfare, food security, and cross-cutting support programmes
- Women Welfare Schemes — direct financial assistance and empowerment programmes for women
- Farmer Schemes — income support and crop insurance for the agricultural community
- Student Schemes — bicycles, uniforms, and general educational support (distinct from scholarship-specific programmes)
- Scholarship Schemes — Pre-Matric, Post-Matric, and Merit-cum-Means scholarships across communities
- Pension Schemes — old-age, widow, disability, and occupation-based monthly pensions
- Housing Schemes — construction assistance for families without a permanent home
- Health Schemes — cashless health coverage and hospital treatment support
- Employment Schemes — skill development and job-readiness training
- Minority Schemes — scholarships and welfare support for notified minority communities
- Disability Schemes — pension and support programmes for persons with disabilities
- Senior Citizen Schemes — pension and welfare programmes specifically for the elderly
- Child Welfare Schemes — education, nutrition, and protection programmes for children
Explore Scheme Categories
Social Welfare Schemes
Comprehensive list of pensions, housing, food security & welfare grants.
Women Welfare Schemes
Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree, Rupashree, and women empowerment schemes.
Farmer Schemes
Krishak Bandhu financial support & Bangla Shasya Bima crop insurance.
Student Schemes
Sabooj Sathi bicycles, Kanyashree, Shikshashree, and student benefits.
Scholarship Schemes
Pre-Matric, Post-Matric, and MCM scholarships for all categories.
Pension Schemes
Jai Bangla Pension Scheme, Manabik Pension Scheme, and old-age support.
Housing Schemes
Banglar Bari Prakalpa and Geetanjali Housing Scheme for EWS families.
Health Schemes
Swasthya Sathi cashless health insurance & Ayushman Bharat updates.
Employment Schemes
Utkarsh Bangla free skill development & placement-linked training.
Minority Schemes
Aikyashree scholarship and welfare grants for minority students.
Disability Schemes
Manabik Pension Scheme for persons with certified disabilities.
Senior Citizen Schemes
Pensions and financial assistance for elderly residents.
Child Welfare Schemes
Education, health, and welfare support for children in West Bengal.
Finding the Right Category When You're Not Sure
Some situations fit more than one category naturally, for example, a scheme for girls' education could reasonably sit under Student Schemes, Scholarship Schemes, or Child Welfare Schemes. Where this overlap exists, we've placed the scheme in the category that best matches its primary purpose, and cross-referenced it in Related Schemes sections on other relevant pages, so you're likely to find it either way.
If you're still not sure which category fits your situation, the quickest route is often the homepage's eligibility checker, which asks about your beneficiary type, district, and income level, and surfaces relevant schemes directly without needing to browse by category first.
What Each Category Page Contains
Every category hub page lists all the active schemes within that group, each with a short summary and a direct link through to the full guide covering eligibility, benefits, and how to apply. If a scheme has multiple related pages (like a separate status-check or application guide), those are accessible from within that scheme's own Main Scheme Page rather than cluttering the category-level listing.
Categories We're Still Expanding
Some categories currently list fewer schemes than others, reflecting either a genuinely smaller number of active state schemes in that area, or pages we're still actively researching and adding. We prioritise covering schemes by search demand and public interest, so widely-used schemes get comprehensive guides first, with smaller or newer schemes added over time.