Rs 21,000 cr given to women under Ladki Bahin scheme: Maharashtra governor

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Sunday said 246 crore women have been provided a collective assistance of Rs 21000 crore under the governments Ladki Bahin schemeAddressing the Republic Day function at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai the governor also said Maharashtra stands first in the country in attracting the Foreign Direct Investment FDII appeal to all to resolve to form a new and strong Maharashtra We must all work together to make our dream of one trillion dollar economy a reality he saidUnder the state governments flagship Ladki Bahin scheme touted to have played a major role in the BJPled Mahayutis win the assembly polls last year the eligible women are provided Rs 1500 per monthThe governor said nearly 246 crore women have been given the benefit of about Rs 21000 crore from July to December 2024 under the scheme implemented for their economic independence ameliorating their health and strengthening their decisionmaking roleAlso financial assistance of more than Rs 2800 crore has been credited to the bank accounts of over 68 lakh cotton and soybean farmers for the Kharif season of 2023 he noted while also mentioning about welfare initiatives for the third gender and the Matang communityIt is a matter of great pride that Maharashtra remains the most preferred destination for FDI and stands first in the nation in attracting FDI he saidUnder the Pumped Storage Projects policy MoUs have been signed for 38 projects through the Public Private Partnership to help generate 55970 MW of electricity and attract an investment of Rs 295 lakh crore he saidIn addition employment generation of 90390 is expected Radhakrishnan addedHe further said the Navi Mumbai International Airport is coming up as the largest greenfield airport in the country with an annual capacity of at least 90 million passengers and 26 million tons of cargoThere are plans to commence the domestic flight services from this airport by April 2025 he addedChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed all departments to prepare a roadmap to expedite public welfare initiatives within the next 100 days the governor saidTo ensure government services reach the common man directions have been given to make online and mobile platforms available he saidOn the occasion the governor paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak Veer Savarkar and other social reformersIt has been decided to install a 60foothigh statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort Malvan in Sindhudurg district he saidNotably a 35foot statue of the Maratha warrior king collapsed at the fort in August last year just months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled itRadhakrishan said Artificial Intelligence is being harnessed to accelerate government work A cyber security project has been launched at Mahape for curbing crimes and assist the police in investigationsA bill related to prison reforms and enhancement of infrastructure has been submitted for approval of the President of India he saidTo encourage sports the cash prize for medal winners of the Olympic competition has been raised 4 to 5 times and for medal winners at the Asian Games Commonwealth Games and other world level competitions up to 10 times he saidTo encourage the culture of reading among students the Maha Vaachan Utsav has been launched To foster constitutional values among students a plan has been prepared to distribute the preamble of the Constitution to them he addedThe governor also said nearly 67000 affordable houses were being constructed through CIDCOs Housing for All initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaA total of 199739 individual and 8695 tribal community forest rights claims have been accepted till last Decemberend he saidTribal tourism is being given a boost by preserving the cultural heritage of Nashik and Palghar districts he addedMy government has given administrative approval to river linking projects including WaingangaNalganga NarGirnaPar DamangangaGodavari EkdareGodavari and DamangangaVaitarnaGodavari to divert the water from waterrich areas to the water deficient areas he saidThe Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyanphase II has been started in 5819 villages under which 147495 works have been given approval as per the village plan he addedRadhakrishnan also referred to the Marathi language being accorded classical language statusMy government is taking steps to ensure that the rich Marathi language will be continuously used in all the government affairs and other works of Maharashtra the governor saidOn other schemes in rural areas he said the subsidy has been revised to Rs 20 lakh for gram panchayats with a population of up to 2000 and Rs 25 lakh to those with a population of above 2000 for the construction the gram panchayat buildingsOn welfare initiatives for various communities he said approval has also been given to establish corporations subcompanies for Nabhik Sonar Teli Bari Lonari Lad Shakhiya Vani Shimpi Lohar Gawli and Vani communitiesAlso green signal has been given to the formation of separate corporations for carpenter and weaver communities and to implement special programs for the development of Gowari community the governor saidWith inputs from Agencies