Odisha government to include 2.85 lakh women in Subhadra Yojana beneficiaries

Bhubaneswar: State govt will take steps to include about 2.85 lakh women beneficiaries who didn’t receive the third instalment of the Subhadra Yojana, said deputy chief minister Pravati Parida on Wednesday.After reviewing the scheme, which will complete one year on Sept 17, Parida said, “Not a single eligible beneficiary will be deprived from receiving Subhadra money. A door-to-door survey will be conducted to include the 2.85 lakh beneficiaries who were left out in the third phase.”“Within 15 days, officials will carry out field visits and submit their investigation reports. Along with this, a grievance portal will be opened within two days.

Beneficiaries who were excluded can file complaints on the portal and reapply for inclusion under the scheme,” Parida, who holds the women and child development portfolio, said.The department on Wednesday reviewed the progress and issues to understand the reasons behind the exclusion of beneficiaries. It also sought specific data from three major departments — transport, food supplies and health — to verify eligibility and cross-check existing records.

Sources said that out of 15,984 beneficiaries who were excluded as ‘deceased’, 1,805 were found to be alive. “We will use data from the health department to verify whether beneficiaries are alive or dead instead of data provided by the food supplies and consumer welfare department. All beneficiaries who are alive and got excluded will be included in the scheme,” Parida said.Sources said that apart from reasons like the lack of ration cards, incomplete KYC details or other documentation issues, 36,702 beneficiaries were excluded as they purchased vehicles, another 21,035 were left out as they pay income tax, while 1,33,691 were excluded for being registered as paddy sellers and farmers.A total of 1.24 crore women received the third instalment of Rs 5,000 each on Raksha Bandhan and the first two instalments earlier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Subhadra scheme here on Sept 17, 2024, on his birthday. The scheme promises financial aid of Rs 50,000 to eligible women over five years, with two instalments of Rs 5,000 being directly transferred every year to their bank accounts. State govt had announced that the two instalments will be released on International Women’s Day on March 8 and on Raksha Bandhan every year.