Shaadi Bhagya on shaky ground

Only 14,702 women receive benefit so far; 27,594 eligible applications still pending

The much-talked about Shaadi Bhagya (or Bidaai) scheme, which offers Rs. 50,000 to poor women from minority communities for their marriage, appears to be struggling to meet the growing demand because of financial constraints.

As per data provided by the Directorate of Minorities, Karnataka, only 14,702 beneficiaries have received the benefit of the scheme since its inception in November 2013, whereas 27,594 eligible applications are still pending.

The Minorities Welfare Department has spent Rs. 60.19 crore so far and is in need of an additional Rs. 137.97 crore to dispose of pending applications.

Funds released

The government released Rs. 10.46 crore in the first year (2013-14) and gradually increased the amount to Rs. 34.83 crore for the next year and Rs. 25.36 crore for last year. For the current year (2016-17), the first instalment of Rs. 12.5 crore has been released, apart from Rs. 3.82 crore for Christian beneficiaries under the Christian Development Programme and Rs. 1.92 crore for Jain beneficiaries under Jain Development Programme. However, the released amount is too little considering the requirement of Rs. 137 crore for disposing of pending applications. “As the scheme is getting popularised, so is the surge in applications. After scrutiny and rejections, there are still considerable numbers of applications pending. We have gradually increased the budgetary allocation to meet the growing demand. We will ensure that all eligible applicants receive the benefits,” said Tanvir Sait, Minister for Minority Welfare.

Better performers

Bidar, Bengaluru Urban, Kalaburagi, Dakshina Kannada, Haveri, and Belagavi districts that have relatively high density of Muslim population have expectedly shown better performance in terms of receiving applications and utilising funds for the scheme. Bengaluru Urban received Rs. 7.68 crore in the first three financial years, followed by Belagavi (Rs. 3.84 crore), Bidar (Rs. 4.8 crore), Haveri (Rs. 3.88 crore), and Dakshina Kannada (Rs. 4.83 crore).

Because of their population size, Muslims have availed themselves of a major share with 12,724 of total 14,702 beneficiaries (86.54 per cent), followed by Christians (1,741) and Jains (216). Not a single Parsi has so far taken the benefit of the scheme.