BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday disbursed over Rs 5,163 crore under the fifth instalment of Subhadra scheme to more than 1.03 crore beneficiaries in Odisha.
Addressing a state-level function at Lathipada in Nayagarh district, Majhi described the scheme as a symbol of women’s empowerment. He said 2,21,054 women had received the assistance for the first time. Majhi said providing the assistance on Rakhi Purnima, as the head of the government, felt like fulfilling a brother’s duty. He, however, stressed that financial assistance alone could not empower women.
“Women should be made self-reliant socially, politically and financially. They should have the right to take decisions for themselves,” he said. Citing a survey by IIM-Sambalpur and the State Bank of India, he said nearly 80 per cent of beneficiaries had invested the assistance in long-term financial security, business and development activities rather than merely meeting daily needs. About 87.19 per cent beneficiaries described the assistance as very useful, he said.
Majhi said Odisha had set a record in the country by creating 27 lakh Lakhpati Didis. He also highlighted the Mukhyamantri Kanya Bibaha Yojana and Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana and said Rs 1,22,764 crore had been allocated for women’s welfare and related schemes in the 2026-27 Odisha Budget.
He also highlighted the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give reservation to women through Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and called upon every citizen of Odisha to light a lamp and pray for the PM on his 76th birthday on September 17.
The chief minister assured the people that the Nayagarh Sugar Mill will be reopened very soon with assistance from the Centre and work on the Brutang irrigation project will also commence. The mill is located at Panipoila in Balugaon panchayat of the district. It was shut down in 2014 after making losses. The Majhi cabinet had approved a tender worth Rs 194 crore for construction of spillway for the Brutang irrigation project in June this year. The work will start shortly, the CM stated.
Speaker of Odisha Assembly Surama Padhi said the Subhadra scheme had brought positive changes in the social and economic lives of more than one crore women in the state.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida described Subhadra as a symbol of women’s aspirations, dignity and self-reliance. Thanking the chief minister for providing free travel for women in Ama buses on Rakhi Purnima, she said the financial assistance had enabled women to take independent decisions and pursue entrepreneurship. Puri MP Sambit Patra and Kandhamal MP Sukanta Panigrahy also addressed the gathering.