BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Sunday announced that eligible women beneficiaries waiting for financial assistance under its flagship Subhadra Yojana would get their first installment in the second phase disbursement on October 9.
Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida said the registration and verification process are underway and so far, over 97 lakh women have registered under the scheme that is aimed at benefiting around 1.08 crore women of the state.
“Those who apply till October 7 for assistance under Subhadra Yojana will be put under verification. Those eligible will be provided the first installment of Rs 5,000 in the second phase on October 9. Over 40 lakh beneficiaries will get the assistance as a Dussehra bheti (gift),” she said.
The state government has planned a grand event at Baripada to disburse the second phase assistance. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi along with his cabinet colleagues will attend the function. The first and the beneficiary number one crore will be felicitated on the occasion.
Parida said the second phase installment will be released from Mayurbhanj’s Baripada, known as ‘Dwitiya Srikhetra’, where only women devotees pull the chariot of Devi Subhadra during Rath Yatra. Mayurbhanj is also the home district of President Droupadi Murmu. The highest number of Subhadra beneficiaries are also from the district.
Parida urged people not to panic as all eligible women beneficiaries will get the assistance after verification. “Since registration for the scheme is an ongoing process, women aged 21-60 years will get the assistance if eligible. The applicants registered till February will get the first installment. The second installment will be released on March 8, the international women’s day,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rolled out the mega women-centric scheme at a special event here on September 17 that coincided with his birthday. Of the over 60 lakh women registered under the scheme till then, the first installment of Rs 5,000 was transferred to the Aadhaar and DBT-enabled bank accounts of 25.11 lakh beneficiaries, totalling Rs 1,250.55 crore, on that day. The state government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 10,000 crore for the scheme in 2024-25. The scheme, that stands for 4S - Sashaktikaran, Swabhiman, Samman and Samruddhi of women, will continue for five years. Eligible women will get Rs 50,000 during the 2024-29 period for which an outlay of Rs 55,825 crore has been made.