Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released Rs. 78.53 crore towards the fifth tranche of YSR Kalyanamasthu and YSR Shaadi Tohfa benefiting 10, 132 girls married during the quarter Oct-Dec 2023.
The amount would be directly credited into the girls’ mothers’ bank accounts. So far, a total of Rs 427.27crore was disbursed to 56,194 beneficiaries under the scheme. Releasing the amount with the click of a button virtually from the camp office at Tadepalli on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said that the scheme aims at encouraging girls from the poor SC, ST, BC, minority communities, construction worker families and the disabled to pursue education at college level.
The Chief Minister said that the Government has made Class X mandatory for the girls and their grooms to become eligible for the scheme and also fixed the marriage age limit for girls and boys as 18 and 21 respectively.
Supported by the welfare schemes like Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevena, these conditions help the girls pursue Intermediate and degree courses after completing Class X, he said and added that education is the only weapon that elevates the lives of poor people. If the mother is educated in a household, her children would also pursue education and their future generations would find it easy to follow suit and the Government has been earnestly implementing the scheme.
The newlyweds need not go to the Sub-Registrar’s office to obtain the marriage certificate and they can get the documents from village and ward secretariats. While the TDP government implemented the scheme for name sake and ditched 17,709 girls to the tune of Rs. 68.68crore, the present Government introduced it with good intention and has been implementing it with commitment, he added.
While SC, ST, BC, and Minority beneficiaries got Rs 40,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 35,000, and Rs 50,000 each during TDP rule, the present Government has increased it to Rs 1,00,000, Rs 1,00,000 Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,00,000 respectively. While the differently abled people and construction workers were promised Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 20,000 each in the TDP rule, they have been getting the enhanced benefits of Rs 1,50,000 and Rs. 40,000 respectively now.
Similarly, the incentives for SC, ST, and BC beneficiaries who opted for inter-caste marriage went up to Rs 1,20,000 from Rs 75,000 each, to Rs 1, 20,000 from Rs 75,000 each, and to Rs 75,000 from Rs 50,000 each respectively. Some of the beneficiaries from different districts also spoke virtually and thanked the Chief Minister for implementing the scheme.
