CM releases Rs141 cr for 18,883 girls

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy released Rs 141.60 crore towards financial assistance under YSR Kalyanamasthu and YSR Shaadi Tohfa benefiting 18,883 girls married during the quarter April-June 2023. The amount will be directly credited into the bank accounts of their mothers.

Depositing the amount with a click of button virtually from the camp office -on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said the scheme was introduced to help girls from the poor SC, ST, BC, minority communities, construction worker families and the disabled to pursue their education.

“We have made Class X mandatory for the girls to become eligible for the scheme besides fixing the marriage age for boys at 21. These conditions and the implementation of Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevana are helping the girls continue their education till graduation. It would also help reduce drop-out rate and increase enrolment ratio in schools and colleges,” he said.

The results are tangible as 7,344 girls out of 8,524 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-21 years are graduates due to Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasthi Deevea, he said, and expressed happiness over thedevelopment.

Reasserting that education is the panacea for driving away poverty and other ills from the society, the Chief Minister said that the other objective of the scheme is to prevent poor families from falling into debt trap.

Parents want their girls to have good education and lead a happy, settled life, he said, adding that YSR Kalyanamasthu and YSR Shaadi Tohfa will go a long way in helping the poor families realise this dream.

The Chief Minister said that in the last nine months, a total of Rs 267. 20 crore was disbursed to 35,551 beneficiaries under the scheme.

“In this third tranche, we have included 227 couples who missed the benefits for various reasons in the first two tranches,” he said.

Alleging that the TDP government implemented the scheme for namesake and ditched 17,709 girls, he said they were sincere in implementing the scheme.

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 hiked it to Rs 1 lakh, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000, and Rs 1 lakh respectively, he said.

While the differently-abled people and construction workers were promised Rs 1 lakh and Rs 20,000 each in the TDP rule, they have been getting the hiked benefit of Rs 1.50 lakh and Rs. 40,000 respectively now.

Similarly, the incentives of SC, ST, and BC beneficiaries who opted for inter-caste marriage went up to Rs 1.20 lakh from Rs 75,000 each, to Rs 1.20 lakh from Rs 75,000 each, and to Rs 75,000 from Rs 50,000 each respectively.

Some of the beneficiaries from different districts also spoke virtually and thanked the Chief Minister for implementing the scheme.

Social welfare minister M Nagarjuna, women and child welfare minister K V Ushasri Charan, energy minister P Ramachandra Reddy, revenue minister D Prasada Rao, endowments minister K Satyanarayana, chief secretary Dr K S Jawahar Reddy and senior officials were present.