10K ‘Subhadra Swagat Padayatras’ held across Odisha ahead of grand launch by PM Modi

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Sunday held ‘Subhadra Swagat Padayatra’ across the state ahead of the grand launch of its flagship scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida launched the Subhadra Swagat Padayatra across all revenue villages in the state. Over 10,000 padayatras are being held across the state to promote the scheme aimed at empowering women in the state.

Sources said members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are participating in the padayatras to spread awareness about the scheme at the grassroots level.

Subhadra Yojana is one of the major election promises of the BJP. The scheme under which all eligible women, aged 21-60 years, would get Rs 10,000 in two equal instalments for five years, is aimed at providing financial safety net and increasing their financial and digital literacy.

An official of the Women and Child Development department said that massive awareness drive has been taken up to educate women about the initiative, benefits provided and the process of applying for it.

The state-level padayatra, coordinated by Mission Shakti and Women and Child Welfare departments, was held from Giri Durga Temple and to Rama Devi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar.

Over 50 lakh women have already been registered under the Subhadra Yojana. Those who complete the registration process by Sunday (September 15) will get the first instalment after launch of the scheme by the Prime Minister on September 17, according to Deputy CM Pravati Parida.

The money will be credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and on International Women’s Day (March 8). They will get Rs 50,000 in five years under the scheme.

Registration for Subhadra Yojana began on September 1. The cash assistance scheme for women will be rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.

As the state government is gearing up to make the launch of the scheme a grand event, live streaming of the launch programme will be organised in every panchayat, block, municipal corporation and district. Block-level conventions of women SHGs will also be organised on the day, sources said.

The district headquarters and municipal corporations would be provided Rs 20,000 each for screening of the launch event and Rs 5 lakh would be given to each block for the SHG convention. An estimated Rs 40.21 crore will be spent for IEC purposes, the sources added.

Streaming of the function will also be done at child care institutions, schools and anganwadi centres. Subhadra anthem will be telecast prior to the launch.

It has been planned to develop a photo wall called ‘Daughters of Odisha’ which would be put up near the launching venue. Conventions like the women SHG meet and human chain organised in Puri, will be organised across the state for making people aware about the benefits of the scheme.

A Subhadra welcome week is also being organised in every block and panchayat with various competitions and street plays. Competitions like essay, debate, rangoli and photography among the students of various colleges have been planned on the theme ‘Ghare Ghare Subhadra’.

Apart from hoardings, branding of buses, bus bays and bus queue shelters will be done, while one crore wall stickers will be distributed. Short videos/reels would be broadcast via social media, TV spots and cinema halls, the sources added.