Ladakh amends marriage assistance scheme, to give beneficiaries Rs 50,000

Jammu, January 6

The Department of Social and Tribal Welfare, Ladakh, has notified the amendment to the State Marriage Assistance Scheme of the erstwhile state of J&K, which has now been revised to Ladakh State Marriage Assistance Scheme. The scheme was made effective from January 1 this year.

Under the scheme, one-time financial assistance of Rs 50,000 will be given to female beneficiaries belonging to Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) or PHH (Priority Household) ration cardholder families. This has amended the previous provision of providing 5 grams of gold and an amount of Rs 25,000.

“Further, an amount of Rs 1 lakh has been provisioned for Divyangjan beneficiaries, i.e. persons with benchmark disabilities as defined in ‘The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016,’” an official said. The guidelines specify that the beneficiary bride must be 18 years or above and the groom 21 years or above and must be a permanent resident of Ladakh. Post determining the eligibility as per guidelines, the committee shall sanction the financial assistance, subject to the availability of funds. The amount of assistance will be credited to the Aadhar-linked savings bank account of the beneficiary through DBT.

“Applications must be sent to the district social welfare officer/ tehsil social welfare officer/social worker of the department at Leh/Kargil,” the official said.