Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bhubaneswar: Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Friday criticised the BJP government for not including all women of Odisha under the ‘Subhadra Yojana’ as part of its ‘guarantee’ during elections.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced the standard operating procedure (SOP) for Yojana, which entitles financial assistance of Rs 10,000 annually in two equal instalments to over one crore women in the state.
Hours after that, Patnaik said in an X post: “The BJP had given a ‘guarantee’ to give Rs 50,000 to each woman. They said Rs 50,000 during the election. But now they are paying only Rs 5,000. They said all women, and now only one in three women will get the benefits. Is this BJP’s guarantee to mothers?” About 2.25 crore women out of the 4.5 crore population were expected to be involved in this scheme but, according to the government, only 70 lakh women will benefit, the BJD president said in the post written in Odia.
The former chief minister said, “The mothers were hopeful that they would be investing the assistance money in business or other work. However, only Rs 5,000 in 6 months… What will they do with such a meagre amount ie, Rs 800 a month?” The BJP government borrowed Rs 50,000 crore to implement the several guarantee schemes, he claimed.