West Bengal Launches Rupashree scheme for marriage of poor girls

To ensure safe future for young women, West Bengal government has launched a scheme called “Rupashree”. This scheme was earlier announced by Amit Mitra, the Finance Minister of West Bengal, at the time of budget. Under this scheme government provides one-time financial support for marriage of poor girls.

Salient features

• Before marriage an amount of Rs 25,000 will be credited to girl’s bank account.
• A woman is required to fill the application form before her marriage and submit it to the office of Block Development Officer or Municipality Office to avail benefits under Rupashree.
• While previous Kanyashree scheme promotes education among women, Rupashree scheme complements it with marriage assistance.

Eligibility

• Beneficiary must be the permanent resident of the West Bengal.
• Women should be more than 18 years of age at the time of their marriage.
• Annual income of a family should be less than 1.5 lakh.
• No minimum educational qualifications are required to apply for the scheme.

The scheme will benefit about six lakh women from the economically backward section with family annual income not exceeding Rs. 1.5 lakh. State government has allocated Rs. 1500 cr for this scheme.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018