The State government has not released any amount yet for the ‘Maa Inti Mahalakshmi’ scheme, which is aimed at providing incentive to the girl child right from birth, former MP G.V. Harshakumar has alleged.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Harshakumar said that it was former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy who had first introduced a scheme titled ‘Bangarutalli’ in 2013 with a budgetary support of Rs. 200 crore. The Assembly had passed the Girl Child Promotion and Empowerment Bill, lending the scheme statutory status. This prevents any government in the future from discontinuing it.
However, the TDP government renamed the scheme as ‘Maa Inti Mahalakshmi’, he alleged. The government was also not providing any budgetary support for it, he added. Under the scheme, every girl child is entitled to a sum of Rs. 2,500 at birth. This apart, a certain amount is provided for immunisation purpose. Demanding that the incentive be provided to every girl child born after 2013, Mr. Harshakumar said he would launch a State-wide agitation if the government failed to do so.
