In election season Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren continued to shower sops on masses. On Wednesday he disbursed Rs 43.85 crore to 2.04 lakh beneficiaries under various welfare schemes, including an old-age pension programme. The CM transferred Rs 31.64 crore directly to the bank accounts of 1.58 lakh beneficiaries under the old-age pension scheme, while around 3,000 people under the 'Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana' received a total amount of Rs 8 crore. At least 4,500 girls under the 'Savitribai Phule Kishori Samridhi Yojana' also benefitted through direct transfer of cash dole. The state government has recently revised the eligibility criterion by reducing the age limit to 50 years from 60 for pensions for women and people belonging to Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) communities. In a bid to provide the benefit of pension to people above 50 years, the Jharkhand government launched a special campaign from February 20 to February 23. During the campaign, over 5.68 lakh applications were submitted, and of which, 2,22,523 were shortlisted for the pension benefit. "As many as 1,58,218 beneficiaries were given Rs 31.64 crore as pension for February and March," an official said. Addressing the beneficiaries at Harivansh Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium in Ranchi, Soren said the economic condition of rural people in Jharkhand is "very poor". "The situation of women, tribals and Dalits is more pathetic. Former chief minister Hemant Soren was concerned about their situation and started the universal pension scheme. He also decided to reduce the age limit for the scheme for women, ST and SC people," the CM said. He accused the BJP of "doing nothing for the tribals, Dalits, backward and poor people" in the state, though the saffron party ruled Jharkhand for most of the years since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000. "The previous double-engine government took the state's development to the bottom," the chief minister alleged. The term "double engine" is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state. In a bid to enhance the dignity of widows, the state government has implemented a widow remarriage promotion scheme, under which Rs 2 lakh is provisioned to marry a widow. On Wednesday, seven beneficiaries were given Rs 14 lakh, the official said. Under a family benefit scheme, as many as 736 beneficiaries, who are below the poverty line, were given Rs 1.47 crore in cash, he added The post Jharkhand CM showers sops under welfare schemes appeared first on The Avenue Mail .
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