Vijayawada: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy releases Rs 81 cr as marriage gift

Vijayawada : Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday disbursed Rs 82 crore under YSR Kalyanamasthu and YSR Shaadi Tohfa schemes to meet the marriage expenses of the poor from SC, ST, BC, minority and other communities.

The two schemes aim to help girls from the poor SC, ST, BC, minority communities, construction worker families and the disabled to pursue their education. It would benefit 10,511couples.

Virtually addressing the event from his camp office, Jagan said the couples who got married between July and September were benefitted under the programme. Launched in October 2022, Rs 349 crore was disbursed among 46,062 couples under the two schemes in four tranches for four quarters, the CM said.

"This programme is another step forward in taking ownership of the poorer sections of SC, ST, BC, minority, specially-abled and construction workers, to give them an assurance that they are the most important people, and handhold them in every possible way," he said.

The government had made Class X as mandatory for the girls and their grooms to become eligible for the scheme and also fixed the marriage age limit for girls and boys as 18 and 21, respectively.

These schemes coupled with other welfare schemes like Vidya Deevena, Vasathi Deevena and Amma Vodi help the girls continue their education at the college level, the Chief Minister added. He said that education is the only weapon that eliminates social ills like poverty and transforms society into a dynamic one. He said the previous TDP government had implemented the scheme for name sake and ditched 17,709 girls, but the present government introduced it with good intention and has been implementing it with commitment, he added. Jagan stated that while SC, ST, BC, and minority beneficiaries got Rs 40,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 35,000, and Rs 50,000 each during the TDP rule, the present government has increased it to Rs 1,00,000, Rs 1,00,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,00,000, respectively.

While the differently-abled people and construction workers were promised Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 20,000 each in the TDP rule, they have been getting the enhanced benefits of Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively, now.

Similarly, the incentives for SC, ST and BC beneficiaries who opted for inter-caste marriage went up to Rs 1,20,000 from Rs 75,000 each, to Rs 1,20,000 from Rs 75,000 each, and to Rs 75,000 from Rs 50,000 each, respectively.