The Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, on Saturday distributed Rs 5,000 crore to around one crore women as the third instalment under the Subhadra Scheme, marking Raksha Bandhan on Saturday. The amounts to the recipients were made via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at a special event in Jeypore, Koraput district.
Among the beneficiaries, 1,783 women are from Kotia panchayat in Koraput district near the Andhra Pradesh border. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the scheme on September 17, 2024, and within the span of just 6 and a half months, all the eligible women had been covered under the scheme, the CM stated, adding that it has become the biggest women empowerment programme of the state.
"To make women economically independent, our government came up with this scheme," he said, and added that the scheme helped lakhs of women to start their own businesses.
“It helped 17 lakh women to become ‘Lakhpati Didis’, part of an ambitious programme envisioned by PM Modi. With this, Odisha has now secured the first position in the country for creating the maximum number of ‘Lakhpati Didis’,” the CM asserted.
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. 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 installments of Rs 5,000 each — one on Rakhi Purnima, and the other on International Women’s Day.
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