Days after the Bihar government sent notices to a few male residents of Darbhanga’s Jale block seeking the return of ₹10,000 wrongly credited to their accounts under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, some of them have claimed that the amount has been already spent, while others insist that the government should first return their votes if it wants the money back.
In the run-up to the Assembly election in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme – aimed at empowering women by providing financial assistance to start their own business – through videoconferencing from Delhi. He transferred ₹7,500 crore into the accounts of 75 lakh women across the State. The scheme was credited as a game changer for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as it won 202 seats out of 243 in the election.
So far, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government has transferred ₹10,000 to over 1.56 crore women. The State government has assured women entrepreneurs that after evaluating their performance, an additional ₹2 lakh as grant will be given to them.
The Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, an autonomous body under the Department of Rural Development better known as JEEViKA, had sent the notices to the male recipients asking them to return the amount after the mistake came to light.
