THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 148 more women would benefit under the ‘Athijeevika’ scheme of the women and child development department, as the government has sanctioned Rs 54 lakh more for the programme, said health minister K K Shailaja.
The programme, launched in 2019, was framed with an idea of providing one-time assistance to those women who have to shoulder the responsibility of their families following the death of their husbands or breadwinners or any other catastrophe that has afflicted their families The government had then sanctioned Rs 50 lakh for the programme, from which 122 women had benefited.
The district-level monitoring committee to screen the applications had forwarded 268 applications for the consideration of the state-level committee.
Under the scheme, a maximum of Rs 50,000 is provided as a one-time assistance.
A family survey conducted through anganwadis have shown that the number of women who are forced to shoulder the responsibilities of the family are increasing in the state.
In several families, when the loans that have been availed for the treatment of the husband or for the education of the children are defaulted, the families face attachment from banks, that many times end up in suicides.
It is under these circumstances that the government had devised the Athijeevika scheme.