BHUBANESWAR: The state government will conduct a field inquiry on the status of 2.85 lakh women beneficiaries of Subhadra Yojana who have not received their third installment of money, informed deputy chief minister Pravati Parida on Wednesday.
Reviewing implementation of the scheme on the day, Parida further informed that the inquiry will be completed in 15 days. Besides, the grievance portal of Subhadra Yojana will be opened in two days which will allow eligible women to check their application status, file complaints and reapply for inclusion under the scheme, she added.
The deputy chief minister reviewed the scheme on the basis of reports submitted by Commerce & Transport, Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, and Health and Agriculture departments on women owning four-wheelers, list of deceased beneficiaries and land records of women farmers respectively.
Parida, who is also the WCD minister, said the department had received several complaints that some beneficiaries were mistakenly marked as dead on the Subhadra portal on the basis of their ration cards issued by the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare department.
“We have decided to consider the report of the Health department in this regard for including beneficiaries who have been mistakenly marked as dead on the basis of their ration cards,” the minister said, reiterating that not a single eligible woman will be deprived of the Subhadra benefit.
She further said that inquiry on 1,805 beneficiaries who had been marked as dead, is currently underway. Both the Health and Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare departments had together submitted a list of nearly 15,984 women who were marked dead. “The Health department conducted a house-to-house survey of 14,000 of these women and only its report on their status will be considered for inclusion in the Subhadra scheme,” the deputy CM informed.
Issues pertaining to vehicle ownership, filing of IT returns and availing scholarships by beneficiaries, will be taken up with CM Mohan Charan Majhi and a decision will then be taken in the interest of the beneficiaries, she added. The Transport department will in a week’s time submit a report on close to 36,000 women beneficiaries who have been found owing vehicles.
“Anyone with an annual income of over `2.5 lakh is automatically disqualified from the scheme. Women farmers who own land (5 acre or 10 acre) and have sold paddy will not be considered for the scheme. Instead, women who are sharecroppers will be given priority for inclusion in the Subhadra scheme,” Parida informed.
Launched on September 17, last year, the state government has been paying `5,000 each to the Subhadra beneficiaries on two occasions, Rakhi Purnima and International Women’s Day on March 8.