Punjab government approves ₹34cr to 6,786 for the Ashirwad plan
Ashirwad Plan: On Monday, Dr. Baljit Kaur, the Minister of Social Justice, Empowerment, and Minority Affairs, said that Rs. 34 crore had been approved for 6,786 recipients of the state’s Ashirwad program.
She said at a press conference that Rs 2732.07 lakh has been approved for 5,357 Scheduled Caste beneficiaries for the fiscal year 2023–2024. Additionally, the government approved Rs 728.79 lakh for 1,429 recipients from economically disadvantaged groups and backward classes in 2023–2024. Direct payment of this sum will be made to the recipients’ bank accounts.
The minister clarified that the Ashirwad initiative, which is eligible for up to two girls per family, offers financial support for the marriage or remarriage of females from Scheduled Castes, backward classes, and economically disadvantaged areas of Punjab. It is necessary for applicants to submit their applications thirty days or less before the wedding day. The Punjab government opened the Ashirwad platform for online application filing in April 2023 in an effort to increase transparency.
She went on to say that in order to be eligible for the Ashirwad plan, candidates must be permanent residents of Punjab, members of the Scheduled Castes, backward classes, or economically disadvantaged groups, and have a family income of no more than Rs 32,790 per year.
