What’s in a name? — the famous Shakespearean quote goes. But men across the state found the names to their advantage to avail the benefits of the women-centric social security scheme launched by the BJP government.
However on scrutiny, their deceptive ploy was unmasked with the names being struck off from the list of beneficiaries.
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The state’s flagship women-centric Subhdra scheme launched after the BJP government came to power, offers financial assistance to women between the ages of 21 and 60 from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, Rs 50,000 over five years, with Rs 10,000 disbursed in two installments annually.
According to a statement by Odisha Deputy CM Pravati Parida on Wednesday, 157 men transgressed gender barriers and were applying for the benefits, exclusively earmarked for women.
Interestingly, the men who applied for the scheme had names identical to women. In Odisha, men and women bear the same names like Durga, Janaki, Annada etc. as per the local custom.
The ineligible applicants apparently tried to take advantage of their typical nomenclature. The faux pas came to light after the verification of KYC of Aadhaar Card and bank linkage, said an official.
It might have been done inadvertently. That is why, these ineligible applicants were dropped from the list, Deputy CM Parida added.
Meanwhile, the state government has extended the Subhdra benefits to eligible Odia women who are stationed outside the state.
