BHUBANESWAR: Soon after the state government came out with the SOP for Subhadra Yojana implementation, leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik lashed at the BJP alleging it has reneged on its promise of providing Rs 50,000 to every woman.
The BJD supremo said the BJP had guaranteed a voucher of Rs 50,000 to every woman but government has announced that the beneficiaries will be paid in installments of Rs 5,000 each.
“Now, the SOP announced for the scheme says only one crore women will be covered. Out of the 4.5 crore population of Odisha, nearly half of around 2.25 crore are women. The scheme will cover only 50 per cent of the women. Is this the guarantee that the party was talking about?” he asked.
Naveen said that the women of the state had pinned high hopes on the scheme. Many of them had planned that they will invest the money in some good work or do business. “What will they do with only Rs 5,000 in six months which comes to around Rs 800 per month?” he questioned.
The former chief minister said the BJP government has taken a loan of Rs 50,000 crore from various sources to implement the guarantees given by the party before elections. “All of us will have to repay the loan,” he said.
In a press conference earlier, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo said beneficiaries would have received Rs 2,100 per month if the government had paid the amount in two years. Besides, the exclusion criteria announced by the government will also keep many women out of the scheme, she said.