Over 1L women didn’t get 2nd part Subhadra money: Pravati

Bhubaneswar: More than one lakh women have not received the second instalment of financial assistance under the Odisha government’s ‘Subhadra Yojana’ due to surrender of their ration cards and other reasons, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida said on Wednesday.

The State government has covered over one crore beneficiaries under the women-centric scheme and distributed the first instalment of Rs 5,000 in five phases.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had released the second instalment on International Women’s Day on March 8 this year. “More than one lakh women, who received the first instalment, could not receive the second one. We are concerned about them. They did not get benefits because many of them have surrendered their ration cards in between the release of first and second instalments as their income has increased,” she said.

The Deputy Chief Minister also said some women have sold paddy cultivated on more than 5 acres of land and bought vehicles, etc, which come under the exclusion criteria.

After completion of the deadline for applying for ‘Subhadra Yojana’ on March 31, a field-level survey will be conducted and those who are found eligible will get two instalments (Rs 10,000) on Raksha Bandhan, she added.

The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday in Odisha on September 17, 2024. The women within the age group of 21 to 60 years are eligible as the beneficiaries of the ‘Subhadra Yojana’, which envisages providing financial assistance of Rs 50,000 over five years (2024-25 to 2028-29) to make them financially independent and self-reliant.

The Deputy Chief Minister also flagged off the special train under the ‘Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra’ scheme from Bhubaneswar railway station.

Altogether 775 people from six districts of Odisha boarded a special train here on Wednesday to visit Ayodhya and Varanasi as part of the State government pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens.

In the seventh phase of ‘Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana’, 775 pilgrims from Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal and Kendrapara began their journey in the special train to the two destinations to seek the blessings of Lord Sri Ramlala, Parida said.

She said 25 Odisha government officials also accompanied the pilgrims.