Lucknow: With an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due in early 2012, Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday launched a scheme under which Rs 300 would be given
every month to each of the 31 lakh BPL families in the state.
"The Mukhya Mantri Mahamaya Gareeb Arthik Madad Yojna is being launched to extend financial assistance to those families not covered under any government scheme like BPL cards, Antyodaya, old age, widow or handicapped pensions," Mayawati told reporters here.
The scheme, to be effective from October 1 in the current fiscal, will fulfill the needs of 1.55 crore poor people in all and the assistance will be given in two installments every
six months, she said.
The chief minister said the scheme, being launched in 72 districts simultaneously, would cost the government Rs 558 crore in the current fiscal.
Mayawati said though the Centre had fixed a limit of 1.07 crore BPL persons in UP, a survey carried out by the state government had revealed that lakhs of people were left out
from benefit being given to BPL families.
"I had written letters to the Centre several times requesting it to revise the list, but it was flatly refused," the BSP supremo alleged.
She said that following refusal by the Centre, the state decided to launch the scheme using its limited resources.
Of 31 lakh families covered in the first phase of the scheme, 50 percent are from SC/ST category. "They are the most deprived class and the number of poor among SC/ST is very
high," she said.
Those families who have been left out will be covered in the next phase of the scheme, the chief minister said.
She said that to empower women of the state, they have been selected as family heads and money will be transferred into their bank accounts.
This is the third scheme of financial assistance to be launched by the state government, the previous two being the Mahamaya Gareeb Balika Ashirwad Yojna and Savitri Bai Phule Balika Shiksha Madad Yojna.
PTI
