Bhubaneswar: On occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Saturday released the third instalment of the Subhadra Yojana, crediting Rs 5,000 each to the bank accounts of over 1 crore women beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer.
At a public event in Jeypore, Koraput district, the Chief Minister presented symbolic cheques to select recipients.
Among the beneficiaries, 1,783 women are from Kotia panchayat in Koraput district near the Andhra Pradesh border, he said.
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 last year and in just six-and-a-half months, all eligible women had been covered under the scheme, he added.
“To make women economically independent, our government came up with this scheme,” he said, adding that it has become the biggest women empowerment programme of the state.
The CM added that the scheme helped lakhs of women to start their own businesses.
He said the scheme also helped 17 lakh women to become ‘Lakhpati Didis’, part of an ambitious programme envisioned by PM Modi.
Odisha has now secured the first position in the country for creating the maximum number of ‘Lakhpati Didis’, Majhi informed.
The CM said his government has resolved to develop southern Odisha, which remained underdeveloped for decades.
Majhi said his government has decided to set up the South Odisha Development Council (SODC) in line with the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC).
A task force headed by Minister Nityananda Gond has been formed and a budgetary provision of Rs 200 crore was made to accelerate development in the region, Majhi added.
Responding to a request by local MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati (Congress) at the programme, the Chief Minister assured that a Vande Bharat train would run from Jeypore to Bhubaneswar.
He also informed that his government was making efforts to revive the shut Jeypore paper mill and set up a new degree college there.
On this occasion, the CM also inaugurated 126 projects worth Rs 309.42 crore and laid foundation stones for 436 projects to be executed with a total cost of Rs 452 crore.
Deputy Chief Ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, Ministers Bibhuti Jena, Nityananda Gond and Gokulananda Mallik and local MP and MLA attended the event.
Subhadra Yojana is designed to provide eligible women aged 21 to 60 years with Rs 50,000 over five years, from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
Each beneficiary will receive Rs 10,000 per year in two instalments of Rs 5,000 each — one on Rakhi Purnima, and the other on International Women’s Day (March 8).
PNN & Agencies
