'Kanyadaan' scheme stalled in CM’s home district Hamirpur: MLA

The Mukhyamantri Kanyadaan Yojana has been stalled in Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s home district of Hamirpur and poor girls are made to wait for the release of the announced relief, said Barsar MLA Inder Dutt Lakhanpal here today. He said that it was a glaring example of administrative failure and anti-poor attitude that the scheme had been halted in the Chief Minister’s home district.

Lakhanpal said that the scheme was launched to provide financial assistance to the daughters of poor people, destitute, widow and economically-weaker families at the time of their marriage. However, even in the Chief Minister’s home district, the beneficiaries were struggling to receive the promised support, he added.

He said that according to the official data, during the present financial year, 177 applications were received under the scheme, but only seven beneficiaries had been granted assistance so far. The remaining 170 applications were pending in department offices.

He added that the aim of the scheme was to ensure timely financial aid to help poor families solemnise the marriages of their daughters without hardships. Yet, even after months of wait, numerous applicants have not received any assistance, exposing what could be called the government’s indifference.

The MLA said that the problem was not limited to the current financial year, as even last year, of the total 266 applications, only 187 beneficiaries received aid while 79 eligible families were still awaiting the release of relief. He added that the data clearly demonstrated that the welfare schemes of the Congress government existed only on paper. He claimed, “Helping the daughters of poor families in their marriages is the moral and social responsibility of the government. And if the government fails to extend even this basic assistance, it loses the moral right to claim public trust.”

Later, Lakhanpal accorded a rousing welcome to Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur on his arrival to address the DISHA meeting at the Mini-Secretariat here.