Thousands of applications are pending under the Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak schemes introduced by the State Government to extend one-time financial assistance to the brides belonging to the poor SC, ST, BC, Minorities and Economically Backward Classes, said Leader of Opposition Mohd. Ali Shabbir.
Raising the issue during the Question Hour in the Legislative Council here on Wednesday, he demanded that a time frame be fixed for the scrutiny of the application and disbursement of the amount to the eligible beneficiaries under the schemes. The poor beneficiaries were also finding the application process difficult and middlemen were taking advantage of their ignorance, he alleged.
Backward Classes Welfare Minister Jogu Ramanna said the scheme was started in October 2014 and till 2016-17, all the applications were either disposed or rejected if they did not fulfil the laid down criteria. He, however, admitted that over 40,000 applications were pending so far this year as the revenue staff were engaged in the land resurvey programme.
The Minister disclosed that 2.49 lakh beneficiaries belonging to all categories benefited under the scheme and majority of them were the SC beneficiaries (72,043) followed by minorities (69,164), BCs (63,461) and STs (41,840). The EBC beneficiaries were 2,829.
