STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Minister of State for Social Welfare Asiea Naqash on Wednesday informed the House that the government provided Rs 12.21 crore to 3,117 beneficiaries of various districts of the State under Marriage Assistance Scheme (MAS). She further said it is a fact that a number of girls have been left out from the survey conducted by the Deputy Commissioners of concerned districts during 2012-13. She said as per the present scheme/directions of J and K State High Court, the benefit is being given to only those girls who are included in the survey. She, however, said the High Court in its latest decision has directed the Social Welfare Department to conduct fresh survey to identify the girls who are living Below Poverty Line (BPL) and not included in the survey conducted earlier. The Minister assured the house that the fresh survey would be conducted shortly. She was replying to a question raised by Surinder Kumar Chaudhary on the floor of the House. Meanwhile, she further informed the House that ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at generating awareness through mass campaign across the country about the declining trend in sex ratio and is not a benefit oriented scheme.
