BHUBANESWAR: In a major move, the state government announced to expand the flagship Subhadra Yojana and make it Subhadra Plus to ensure comprehensive welfare and well-being of women and girl children.
Presenting the state budget, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said, the government will roll out Subhadra Plus which will include new initiatives like ‘Kishori Subhadra’, ‘Subhadra Sanchay’, ‘Subhadra Surakhya’, ‘Subhadra Sakhi’, ‘Subhadra Yatri’, ‘Subhadra Sangha’ (clubs), ‘Kuha Subhadra’ (call centre), ‘Subhadra Sahyogi’, ‘Subhadra Scholars’ and ‘Sujogya Subhadra’ to enhance the impact of the scheme.
Of these initiatives, Subhadra Surakhya is aimed at ensuring safety and security of women and for this, Rs 153 crore has been proposed in the budget. The government has proposed an allocation of Rs 17,998 crore for women and children in the budget.
This apart, poor Odia families will not have to worry about getting their daughters married. The state has proposed a new scheme ‘Mukhya Mantri Kanya Bibaha Yojana’ along the lines of Madhya Pradesh government’s initiative to facilitate marriage of girls from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
Under the programme, mass marriages will be performed and the government will bear all expenses and also provide gifts to the brides. For this, an allocation of Rs 12 crore has been earmarked.
Similarly, the state has proposed Rs 208 crore for Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under which, maternity benefit of Rs 12,000 will be provided to mothers on the birth of a girl child.
For nutrition of women, adolescent girls and children, though, the allocation under Mukhyamantri Sampoorna Pusti Yojana (MSPY) will be Rs 526 crore which is Rs 28 crore less than the last budget.
However, the government will launch a new Odisha Pusti Mission with an allocation of Rs 100 crore to ensure effective delivery of nutritional support to beneficiaries of MSPY.
Allocation for Mission Shakti department has also been increased to Rs 2,775 crore for implementation of various schemes and enabling women to become ‘Lakhpati Didis’. The previous BJD government had earmarked Rs 2,762 crore in the last budget.