Abhay Singh | TNN | Sep 23, 2017, 11:30 IST
PATNA: The state government would provide Rs 15,000 as financial assistance in three instalments for every girl born in a family of the below poverty line (BPL) category or having an annual income up to Rs60,000 to protect and promote her future, state social welfare department principal secretary Atul Prasad said on Friday.
The first instalment would be paid on the birth of the girl child in the categorized family, the second when she attains the age of 14 years and finally when she reaches the age of 19 years. "The aim is to discourage child marriage and inspire the girl concerned to pursue her career, like taking admission for further studies, after she reaches the age of 19," Prasad said.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar is to formally launch the anti-dowry and anti-child marriage campaign in the state from October 2, which would also mark the culmination of the centenary celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran 'satyagrah' being organized by the state government in sync with his vision.
Addressing a presser in the presence of the department's minister Kumari Manju Verma and other senior officials, Prasad said it would be one of the seven umbrella schemes in which all the 32 centrally sponsored schemes under implementation in the state are being regrouped for effective monitoring. The new scheme for the girl child has been formed by integrating Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana, Mukhya Mantri Kanya Suraksha Yojana and Mukhya Mantri Nari Shakti Yojana.
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Stating that the social welfare department with Rs7,500 crore budgetary allotment for 2017-18 has been doing social security work on an enormous scale, the principal secretary said of the total 62 lakh social security pensioners (like for the old age, extreme old age above 80 years and physically challenged persons), 60 lakh were personal account holders and 56.55 lakh of them had been uploaded under public finance management scheme data pool.
Further, out of the total, 46 lakh beneficiaries had been linked with Aadhaar numbers to facilitate money transfer under direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode. He said the beneficiaries were given Rs 2,834.98 crore during 2016-17 and Rs854.14 crore has been disbursed during the current fiscal so far.