Mamata extols Kanyashree scheme

Around nine lakh girl students benefited from the Kanyashree scheme aimed at preventing girls from being married off in childhood.
Launched on October 1, 2013, there was huge response within six months, with 13,20,000 girls registering and over 8,73,000 receiving benefits under the scheme, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today in a Facebook post.
"Our scheme is helping retention of adolescent girls within the educational system and preventing child marriage and trafficking. It has also empowered the young girls as now they have their own bank accounts," she said.
The project provided annual scholarship of Rs 500 between Class VIII and XII provided the family income was not over Rs 10,000 per month.

There was also a one time grant of Rs 25,000 for girls after reaching the age of 18 plus.
Many organisations in the country and abroad had appreciated the scheme for its innovative approach, and UNICEF became a partner of the government for implementation of the scheme, she said.
"Girl child is our asset and we are indeed very proud of them. Kanyashree is launched for the development and well-being of the girl child. Our objective is to instill confidence among them, to encourage their education, and to discourage their early marriage," she said claiming it was the first of its kind in India.

The Kanyashree project entailed an expenditure of Rs 1000 crore annually to the government.