Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today launched a financial aid scheme for 3.1 million below poverty line (BPL) families in the state.
The scheme titled ‘Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad Yojna’ would provide Rs 300 per month to the identified BPL families.
The financial aid would be credited to the bank account of the female head of the BPL families every six months. This way, the scheme would entail an additional annual burden of Rs 1,116 crore to the exchequer in the first phase.
To mark the beginning of the scheme, Mayawati handed over bank pass books and certificates to 10 beneficiaries at a function here. Fifty per cent of the beneficiaries under the scheme belong to the SC/ST categories.
She said the scheme included those BPL units, which had not been covered under other pro-poor schemes. It would cover 15 million people belonging to 3.1 million BPL families.
In the next phase, the remaining BPL families would be covered under the scheme, which was announced on January 15 this year during Mayawati’s birthday celebrations.
She said the Centre had identified only 10.07 million BPL families in UP for the purpose of providing food grain at cheaper prices, however, the number of BPL families was greater.