PNS | VIJAYAWADA
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released Rs. 141.60 crore towards financial assistance under YSR Kalyanamasthu and YSR Shaadi Tohfa, benefiting 18,883 girls who got married during the quarter April –June. The amount will be directly credited into the bank accounts of their mothers.
Depositing the amount with the click of a button virtually from the Camp Office here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said the scheme was introduced to help girls belonging to the SC, ST, BC, minority communities, construction workers’ families and the disabled to pursue their education.
“We have made Class X qualification 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 Vasthi Deevena 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 intended results are tangible as 7,344 girls out of 8,524 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-21are graduates due to Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasthi Deevea, he said and expressed happiness over the development.
Reasserting that education was the panacea for driving away poverty and other curses from society, the Chief Minister said that the other intention of the scheme was 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 would go a long way in helping the poor families realise this dream.
The Chief Minister said that in the past 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.
“While the TDP government implemented the scheme for namesake and ditched 17,709 girls, we are sincere in implementation of 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 1,00,000, Rs 1,00,000, Rs 50,000, and Rs 1,00,000 respectively, he said.
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 hiked benefit of Rs 1,50,000 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 1,20,000 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.
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 Development and Child Welfare Minister KV Usha Sricharan, Energy Minister P. Ramachandra Reddy, Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao, Endowments Minister K. Satyanarayana, CS Dr KS Jawahar Reddy and senior officials were present.
