Include widowed girls under MKVY: CM

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday directed officials to include widowed girls under the Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana (MKVY), which will soon be implemented in the state.

Chairing a meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan here, Majhi stated that the Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana would be of immense help to poor, helpless, and financially weak families by supporting the marriage of their daughters. The meeting discussed the implementation of the scheme under the Chief Minister’s guidance to ease the financial burden of marriage on underprivileged parents. Previously in Odisha, assistance for inter-caste marriages involving girls was provided by the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department as well as by the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department. The Chief Minister instructed the departments to make arrangements for government-sponsored wedding gifts and to organise the marriages on a collective basis. Majhi also asked the departments to complete all necessary procedures promptly and launch the scheme without delay.

According to official sources, an allocation of Rs 12 crore has been made for this scheme for the current year. Among others, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Development Commissioner Anu Garg and senior officials from the Women and Child Development department, Finance department, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department and the School and Mass Education department attended the meeting.

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