Srinagar: The marriage assistance to the needy unmarried girls has witnessed constant dip in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar from the last three financial years, official documents reveal.
According to the official figures accessed by Kashmir News Observer (KNO), under the State Marriage Assistance Scheme (SMAS), a total of 555 unmarried girls have got the benefits in district Srinagar.
However, from the past three financial years, there has been a dip of at least 90.46 per cent in providing assistance to the needy unmarried girls.
The official figures of Directorate of Social Welfare Kashmir (DSWK) states that in district Srinagar, 309 beneficiaries were given assistance in financial year 2017-18 followed by 193 beneficiaries in 2018-19 and 53 in 2019-20.
Official figures of DSWK further reveal that in Kashmir division, a total of 11,898 beneficiaries including in Srinagar district were given marriage assistance in the past three financial years.
Pertinently, the state marriage assistance scheme was launched by the government for poor unmarried identified girls of the erstwhile State.
KNO has learnt that in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, a total of 2661 beneficiaries were given the marriage assistance in the past three years that includes 1333 in 2017-18, 415 in 2018-19 and 913 in 2019-20.
Similarly, in Kulgam district, a total of 1456 beneficiaries were given the marriage assistance including 400 in 2017-18 and 1056 in 2018-19.
Likewise in Pulwama district, a total of 823 beneficiaries were given the assistance including 305 in 2017-18, 449 in 2018-19 and 69 in 2019-20.
In Ganderbal, of total 793 beneficiaries, 330 were in 2017-18, 226 in 2018-19 and 237 in 2019-20 followed by total of 2461 beneficiaries from Baramulla, 925 from Kupwara, 1003 from Budgam and 1221 receivers were from Bandipora district. (KNO)
