BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Thursday launched the Biju Sishu Suraksha Yojana (BSSY) for creating a safety net for children who are without biological or adoptive parents, legal guardians, affected/infected with HIV and found to be most vulnerable.
The scheme will act and supplement for providing additional resources and complementary modalities to the existing Centrally sponsored Integrated Child Protection Scheme.
Launching the scheme, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said it will cover assistance for higher education and rehabilitation of vulnerable children. He said the scheme will provide financial support for girl child.
Official sources said Rs 7,000 to Rs 40,000 will be provided for different courses under the scheme as support for technical education towards admission, study material and other related expenses wherever not covered under the ‘green passage’ scheme of the Higher Education Department.
Scholarship will be provided to top three meritorious students in each district under the scheme. Besides, Rs 20,000 will be provided to each such student who will pass the HSC examination. An amount of Rs 1000 per year will be deposited in the Sukanya Samridhi Account of the girl child till she attains the age of 18 years to promote and secure her future.
One time token assistance of Rs 50,000 for girls and Rs 40,000 for boys will be credited to their bank accounts on completion of 18 and 21 years respectively to facilitate marriage ceremony.
The CM also launched the new Mamata software on the occasion. Under the scheme, Rs 3,000 will be credited to the accounts of women after six months of pregnancy through e-transfer and Rs 2,000 provided to them after 10 months.
Incentives were also announced for Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi assistants and Asha workers for making the Mamata scheme a success. One time incentive of Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 will be provided to benefit 1.78 lakh Anganwadi and Asha karmis.
The CM awarded Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Jagatsinghpur districts for successful implementation of Mamata scheme. Women and Child Development Minister Usha Devi, ST and SC Development Minister Lalbihari Himirika, Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda, Chief Secretary AP Padhi and senior officials were present.