Financial benefit given to 10.38L beneficiaries

Kolkata: The number of beneficiaries of the state government's Rupashree scheme has crossed 2.34 lakh in the ongoing fiscal from April to December. The expenditure for this has been over Rs 2895.19 crore till date since the inception of the scheme.

As per statistics of the state Women and Child Development & Social Welfare department which is implementing the project, 2.96 lakh applications were received in the year 2018-19. In the next financial year — 2019-20, the total number of applications was 3.04 lakh.

In the 2020-21 fiscal, the total number of applications was 3.37 lakh while in this fiscal till December, the total applications have been 2.34 lakh. So, overall 11.71 lakh applications have been received among which 10.38 lakh beneficiaries have received financial assistance.

The scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that was launched on April 1, 2018, provides one-time financial assistance of Rs 25,000 to the family of a girl at the time of her marriage if her family income is less than Rs 1,50,000 per year. Initially, Rs 1,500 crore was allocated for the project.

The woman must be a permanent resident of West Bengal and above 18 years at the time of her marriage with a cap on an annual family income of Rs 1.5 lakh. No minimum educational qualifications are required to apply for the scheme, the official said.

"It is evident from the figure that the Covid pandemic situation has not been a bar when it comes to providing financial assistance under the Rupashree scheme," a senior official of the state Women & Child Development department said.

The official added that many poor families find it extremely difficult to bear the expenditure of marriage of their daughters and have to borrow at a high rate of interest to bear the expenses. "Rupashree has been a boon for them," he added.