Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren handover the amount to one of the beneficiaries of Maiya Samman Yojana in Ranchi on Monday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday (January 6, 2024) transferred ₹1,415.44 crore to 56.61 lakh women in Jharkhand under Maiya Samman Yojana as promised ahead of the Assembly election.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led INDIA bloc had promised to increase the amount from ₹1,000 to ₹2,500 to the women aged between 18 to 50. This scheme is said to have played an important role in the victory of INDIA bloc, which won 56 out of 81 Assembly seats in the State. The instalment of ₹2,500 was transferred to the beneficiaries for the month of December while the instalment for January would be transferred later this month.
Mr. Soren transferred the amount to the accounts of the beneficiaries by pressing a button at a State-level programme organised at the training ground of Khojatoli in Namkum, Ranchi.
‘Transformative boost’
He said that direct transfer of ₹2,500 monthly and ₹30,000 annually to women represented a transformative boost to household income, particularly in rural areas where women’s financial autonomy has traditionally been severely limited. Mr. Soren added that extensive research from global economic studies demonstrated that women-directed cash transfers consistently led to improved outcomes in family health, education and nutrition.
“Women typically invest a higher proportion of their income in family welfare compared to men. By necessitating bank accounts of women for transfers, we are bringing millions of women into the formal banking system for the first time,” Mr. Soren said.
He expressed happiness that the scheme was being discussed all over India and other States were moving forward in the direction of adopting the scheme.
Mr. Soren said that the blessings and respect given by people of Jharkhand had given a new energy and strength to him. He stressed that unless men and women walk shoulder to shoulder, the State and the country would not progress.
“Women run the household and also work. In such a situation, no one can understand the importance of money better than them. This is the reason why our government is also entrusting the responsibility of taking the State forward to the women who run the household. Now efforts are being made to turn the wheel of the State’s economy through women, because half of the population will play an important role in putting this State in the category of developed Sates,” he said.
Economic prosperity
He said that the government would also visit villages and rural areas from time to time and would try to know what activities are being conducted by women for economic prosperity.
Mr. Soren said that other States are developing through the resources of Jharkhand, while the people of Jharkhand were forced to live a life of deprivation.
“Problems like backwardness, poverty, unemployment, exploitation, malnutrition and migration still remain the biggest challenge in the development of this State. In the eyes of the policy makers here, this State has always remained on the margins. But, now this will not work. We will free this State from backwardness and poverty and put it in the category of leading states,” he said.
He claimed that the attitude of banks towards Jharkhand was not very good. He alleged that the money that the poor people deposit in the banks were used somewhere else. He asked the banks to change their attitude according to the needs of the State and its people.
Published – January 07, 2025 03:37 am IST
