Kanyashree: Beneficiaries' count crosses 76 lakh-mark

kolkata: As many as 72 lakh girls have derived benefits from the Kanyashree project till December 31. 2021, this fiscal, state Women & Child Development & Social Welfare minister Shashi Panja said during the question answer-session at the state Assembly on Monday.

Responding to a query from TMC MLA of Bhagabangola, the minister said that 72,41,781 girls have received Kanyashree benefits till the end of the year 2021. Presently, the number of Kanyashree beneficiaries have crossed the 76 lakh-mark.

The minister further said that in the ongoing fiscal the benefits are likely to reach 30,21,378 girls. Kanyashree Prakalpa that was introduced in the year 2012 was awarded with the first prize in the United Nations Public Service Award for Asia Pacific at The Hague in Netherlands in 2017.

Meanwhile, MLA Idris Ali suddenly fell sick during the Budget discussion in the second half of the Assembly session and was rushed to SSKM hospital.

With an aim to ensure that girls complete their school-level studies instead of getting married early, the Chief Minister had introduced the Kanyashree scheme in 2012. A beneficiary gets an annual financial assistance of Rs 1,000 from class VII onwards to class XII under Kanyashree I (K-I) and a one-time grant (K-II) of Rs 25,000 if the beneficiary completes class XII level studies without getting married. The K-I and K-II are supervised by the state Women and Child Development and Social Welfare department. The K-III scholarship is implemented by the state Higher Education department that offers Rs 2,500 per month for Science stream students and Rs 2,000 per month for Arts students.