Bhubaneswar/Nayagarh, Aug 28 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday disbursed Rs 5,160 crore as the fifth instalment of grants under Subhadra Yojana to more than one crore women beneficiaries.
At the programme in Nayagarh district’s Lathipada, he also announced the revival of a sugar mill and operationalising the Brutang Irrigation Project.
A total of 1.03 crore beneficiaries received grants under the women-centric scheme directly into their bank accounts. Of the beneficiaries, 2.21 lakh women received the financial assistance for the first time.
Subhadra Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Odisha in 2024 after the BJP formed government in the state. Under the scheme, eligible women are provided Rs 10,000 annually in two instalments of Rs 5,000 each — one on Raksha Bandhan and the other on International Women’s Day.
Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida and other senior leaders of the ruling BJP were present at the function.
At the event, Majhi said, “Keeping in view the larger interest of the people of Nayagarh, the government has decided to revive the Nayagarh sugar mill soon and make the Brutang irrigation project operational.” Disbursing the grants under Subhadra Yojana on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, he said that it feels like he has fulfilled a brother’s duty.
He described the scheme as a symbol of women’s empowerment and his government’s “commitment to half of the state’s populace”.
The true meaning of women’s empowerment is giving women the right to make decisions for themselves and becoming socially, politically and economically self-reliant, the chief minister said.
Quoting a survey report by IIM Sambalpur and State Bank of India, the chief minister said that about 80 per cent of women have invested the grants they received under the Subhadra Yojana in long-term financial security, business and development.
Majhi said that through the ‘Women Entrepreneurship Platform’, arrangements have been made to provide guidance, skill training, market linkages and financial assistance to women to start businesses.
He also expressed happiness that Odisha has ranked first in the country by creating 27 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’, ahead of the target.
The government has allocated Rs 1,22,764 crore for women’s development and related activities, including the Chief Minister’s Kanya Bibah Yojana and Chief Minister’s Kanya Sumangal Yojana, Majhi pointed out.
The chief minister also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts for the passage of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, which reserves one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women, and requested everyone to light a lamp on the prime minister’s 76th birthday on September 17.
Assembly Speaker Padhy said the Subhadra Yojana has changed the social and economic standing of more than one crore women.
Deputy Chief Minister Parvathi Parida, who is also in charge of the Women and Child Development Department, thanked the chief minister for providing free travel for women in buses on Raksha Bandhan. PTI AAM AAM NSD
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