Rs 436 crore released for Bhagyalakshmi Scheme

BANGALORE: The state government has released Rs. 436 crore towards the issue of insurance bonds for the beneficiaries of the Bhagyalakshmi Scheme. The state’s flagship programme intends to discourage female feticide and school dropouts, Women and Children Welfare Minister C C Patil informed here on Wednesday.Addressing newsmen here, the minister informed that with the release of funds the government is in a position to issue bonds to clear 2.27 lakh applications pertaining to the period of 2009-2010.  At the beginning of the year the total number of applications pending for disbursal under the Bhagyalakshmi Scheme stood at Rs. 2.92 lakh after issuing bonds to over 34,000 applicants, he said. With the release of additional resources the department of women and children is expected to clear another 2.27 lakh applications.He said the Finance Department still has to release the balance amount of Rs. 207 crore to the department and it would be utilised to clear the pending applications received by the department for the year 2009-10.For the period 2010-11, another 1.50 lakh applications have been received by the department under the Bhagyalakshmi Scheme and the department needs another `200 crore to issue the bonds, the minister said.While informing that from April 2011, only the girl child in BPL families would be eligible to receive benefits under the scheme, the minister added that so far the state government paid Rs. 1,500 crore to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to manage the programme. “Total commitment of the state government towards the scheme which was in force since 2006-07, would be around Rs. 1,782 crore,” Patil said.Replying to questions the minister claimed that after the introduction of the scheme the number of cases of female feticide and  drop out from the schools have fallen drastically in the state. C C Patil informed that state government has issued a tender to execute Rs. 92 crore drinking water project in Gadag-Betageri twin towns.He said that water would be drawn from the dam constructed across theTungabhadra river for the Singatalur Lift Irrigation project.The minister also informed that state government has released Rs. 10 crore for the remodelling works of the existing internal pipelines in the twin cities.Replying to questions, the minister informed that the work on providing underground drainage facilities are also going in full swing. BJP legislator Sreeshailappa Bidarur was also present on the occasion.