Berhampur: On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today distributed more than Rs 5,000 crore to over one crore women beneficiaries under the Subhadra Yojana.
Shri Majhi distributed the second installment of the scheme at Ambapua here on 8 March.
Addressing a large gathering, the Chief Minister said the Subhadra Yojana has become a revolution in Odisha today which will empower and uplift women of all ages while instilling new hope and confidence in their minds. The scheme is all set to transform into a massive state wide campaign, he said.
He emphasized that the new government, in just nine months, has paved the way for financial freedom for over one crore women in the State.
“All mothers have received Rs 10,000 in two installments,” he said, describing the day as the happiest and most glorious in his tenure as Chief Minister.
Shri Majhi criticized the previous BJD government for merely raising slogans about women’s empowerment over the past 24 years, asserting that women’s empowerment remained nothing more than a slogan during that period.
“We decided to implement the historic Subhadra Yojana within 24 minutes of coming to power. The good news is that it started working within three months, and today, in just nine months, more than one crore women have received the second installment,” the CM said.
“What you (BJD) could not achieve in 24 years, we have accomplished in just nine months,” Shri Majhi said.
“Our detractors forget that even a child must spend nine months in the mother’s womb before being born. There are still four days left for our government to complete nine months in office,” he said while referring to BJD’s criticism of the BJP government.
Sending a strong message to those who commit violence and misconduct against women, the Chief Minister asserted that such criminals have no place in a civilized society and belong within the four walls of a jail.
“I have already issued strict instructions to departmental officers to ensure this is enforced,” he said.
To make women financially independent, he said that the Central government set a target to create three crore ‘lakhpati didis’ (women earning at least one lakh rupees) across the country.
Odisha has secured second place in India in implementing the Lakshapati Didi scheme. “So far, we have created five lakh lakhpati didis, and by 2027, we will ensure that at least 25 lakh women in Odisha achieve this status,” he added.
The Chief Minister also launched development projects worth over Rs 638 crore in Ganjam district.
The Subhadra scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday in Odisha on September 17, 2024.
On Thursday, the government disbursed Rs 117 crore among 2.30 lakh new beneficiaries under the fifth phase of the first instalment.
The women within the age group of 21 to 60 years are eligible as the beneficiaries of the Subhadra Yojana, which envisages providing financial assistance of Rs 50,000 over five years (2024-25 to 2028-29) to make them financially independent and self-reliant.
The state government will spend over Rs 55,825 crore on the scheme in five years. The government has already allocated Rs 10,145 crore for the 2025-26 fiscal.