2.33 lakh yet to get benefits under Mamata scheme

Bhubaneswar: Mamata Yojana, the flagship programme launched by the Odisha government in 2011 in an effort to alleviate the problems of maternal and infant under-nutrition, has failed to meet the objective for which it was conceived with a large number of registered beneficiaries yet to get the benefits of the scheme.

According to a letter written by Social Welfare Board director Prasant Kumar Reddy to all collectors, a copy of which is in the possession of OTV, as many as 2.33 lakh beneficiaries have not yet been paid the monetary assistance fixed by the government.

Expressing concern over the benefits of the scheme not reaching the people the scheme is meant for, Reddy has asked the Collectors to identify the real beneficiaries and ensure fund disbursement at the earliest.

"About 2.33 lakh eligible beneficiaries have not been paid for different instalments till date. You are, therefore, requested to undertake a special drive to identify all eligible MAMATA beneficiaries and ensure timely fund disbursement," Reddy said in the letter.

Cuttack district tops the the list with 17.557 beneficiaries remaining unpaid.

The guidelines stated that pregnant women registered with Anganwadi centres would receive Rs. 5,000 in four instalments through bank accounts. The instalments have been designed to ensure that the beneficiary gets cash assistance every three months. The last instalment would be given on completion of measles immunisation.

The Women and Child Development department asserted that the funds would be disbursed at the earliest in two instalments instead of four.

“The amount, which was earlier paid in four instalments, is now being credited to beneficiaries' accounts in only two. The secretary had convened a meeting with the collectors over pending dues of the expectant and lactating mothers and asked them to clear the dues by August failing which they would face action," deputy secretary of WCD department Dharniodhar Nanda said.