Srinagar: Abdul Rashid, 47, has always been worried about the fate of his three daughters. Working as a daily wager, he has been struggling to make ends meet. Thoughts of daughter’s education and marriage, however, have been giving him sleepless nights.
It was on a suggestion by one of his relatives that he enrolled his three daughters under the `Ladli Beti’ scheme since they were born after 2015.
While Rashid is focusing on his daughter’s education, he is relieved that he won’t have to worry about their marriage.
“By the time my daughters attain the age of 21, I will have a decent amount to take care of their education and marriage. I am relieved now to some extent and now I am taking care of their education, foo,d, and clothing,” he said.
Like Rashid, scores of underprivileged parents are availing the “Ladli Beti” to ensure the secure future of their girl child.
As such the Jammu and Kashmir administration has enhanced the coverage of the `Ladli Beti’ scheme by more than 92 percent in the last four years.
As per the figures, the government has expanded coverage of “Ladli Beti” from 16,095 cases in 2017 to 1,61,552 cases too 2023-24.
Figures suggested the financial assistance for deserving girl children increased from `24 crore to `847 crore during this period.
Pertinently, under this scheme, all the girl-child born on or after 01-04-2015 and whose parents/guardians income does not exceed Rs 75,000 per annum is eligible for benefits.
The beneficiaries get Rs 1000 per month credited into the bank account through the DBT Mode of the Girl Child up to the age of 14 years and after attaining the age of 21 years, the girl child will get Rs 6.50 lakh.
In September 2022, the J&K government fully digitized this social assistance scheme to ensure the reach of the Ladli Beti scheme to maximum beneficiaries with transparency.
Officials at the Social Welfare Department said they have enhanced the coverage of the scheme by enhancing awareness regarding it at district levels.
“Our officials at the district level have worked hard by raising awareness about the scheme. We are now getting more applications from the underprivileged families for the scheme. Our goal is to ensure that every deserving parent gets benefited under the scheme,” they said.
