Over 79 lakh women to be beneficiaries of Subhadra Yojana scheme in Odisha

As many as 79.14 lakh women between 21-60 years age will become the beneficiaries of the Subhadra Yojana in Odisha after the scheme gets launched on September 17.
These women will start getting benefits with an initial amount of ₹10,000 a year.
In the run up to the simultaneous polls to the state assembly and Lok Sabha in May and June this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised ₹50,000 cash voucher to women to be given over a period of two years under the scheme.
The BJP rode on this electoral promise which materialised in their victory in the state where they won 78 of the 147 seats in the state Assembly and 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats.
In the Lok Niti-CSDS post poll survey, 43% of women voters supported BJP in comparison to 39% of Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
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Last month, the BJP government led by CM Mohan Majhi allocated ₹10,000 crore for the scheme in the 2024-25 budget, adding that the fund allocation will increase, if needed.
While an SOP in this regard is in the making, minutes of a meeting of women and child development department over the Subhadra Yojana held earlier this month said, from this year, 79.14 lakh women in the age group of 21 and 60 years from 65.25 lakh families will be given ₹5,000 twice a year.
“The annual installment per beneficiary would be ₹10,000 which would be credited upfront into the Aadhaar enabled bank account in two installments of ₹5,000 each. Penny dropping would be carried out before disbursing the benefits under the scheme by the banks to ensure the accounts of the beneficiaries are active. No objections would be invited from the provisional list of beneficiaries that will be sent to the districts, blocks/urban local bodies and which will also be made available in a dedicated portal meant for the scheme. SMS may be sent to beneficiaries on their registered mobile number on completion of each step for maintaining transparency,” the minutes of the meeting said.
People familiar with the matter said that to avail the benefits under the Subhadra Yojana, self-certification may be done through the Subhadra portal or mobile application and an e-KYC may be done preferably through facial recognition, allowing beneficiaries to complete the process from the comfort of their homes. This approach can significantly reduce the time and effort required for beneficiaries to physically visit designated centres, making the process more convenient and accessible.
To encourage online transactions, improve credit history and penetration of digital financial instruments, the government has also decided to device a system of rewarding Subhadra Yojana beneficiaries doing the maximum online transactions.
“An approximate number of 7 lakh beneficiaries would be awarded with a sum of ₹500 each, with a tentative cost of ₹35 crore with not more than 100 women per gram panchayat,” an official said.
Of the 4.74 crore people of the state, around 1.14 crore are in the age group of 21 and 60 years.
Of these, the government is excluding women belonging to families who are either a central or state government employee or pensioner or having a four-wheeler or land area of more than 5 acre, or receiving allowances and scholarship of ₹12,000 a year or more.
Individual women farmers receiving assistance under Kalia Yojana as well women paying income tax have been excluded.
Nearly 13 lakh women have been excluded as they being beneficiaries under National Old Age Pension, widow and disability pension.
Around 30% of 1.14 crore women in the age group of 21 and 60 years have thus been excluded due to different criteria.
Odisha Computer Application Centre, a state-run agency on IT, will prepare the provisional beneficiary list by using the data available with them (Social Registry, Golden Records, RCMS that includes NFSA /SFSS data) and running it against the inclusion/ exclusion criteria devised in the draft policy, communicated by the women and child development department.
The scheme would be subsequently expanded to cover the beneficiaries outside of the above database and otherwise eligible.
Reacting to the scheme, opposition BJD MLA from Kalahandi Manorama Mohanty called it nothing less than a deceit.
“During election, they assured all women that they would get ₹50,000 and no age limit was announced and now they are saying women in the age group of 21-60 years would get the assistance. Besides, women who are getting old age assistance would also be excluded. It seems BJP is playing it jumla politics in Odisha,” said Mohanty.