Cabinet okays CM’s social assistance scheme guidelines amendment
SHILLONG: The state cabinet on Friday approved the amendment of the guidelines of the Chief Minister’s Scheme for Social Assistance which seeks to bring ‘single-mothers’ of the state under its purview.
This was informed by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma following a Cabinet meeting here on Friday.
The State Cabinet decided to amend the guidelines of the scheme to ensure that single mothers are covered under it.
“Earlier single mothers did not fall under the definition of widows. However, now the widows in the scheme would be referred to as single mothers,” Sangma said.
“Single mothers in the State are confronted with the challenges of bringing up and providing education to their children. The decision (to include them as beneficiaries of the scheme) was taken while keeping in mind the grievances faced by them,” the Chief Minister said.
The Cabinet also brought another amendment, that in the eligibility criteria in respect of the income of the people to be covered under the scheme.
From the earlier cap of Rs 12,000, the per annum income of families to be covered under the scheme has been raised to Rs 36,000. Which means persons to be covered under the scheme should belong to marginalized families whose income does not exceed Rs 36,000 per annum.
The Chief Minister said that the programme aims at being inclusive so that no one is deprived of his/her rights.
“The disabled would now be referred to as persons with disabilities (PWDs),” he added.
Reacting to a query that many a time deserving people are unable to avail the benefits of scheme due to malpractices, Sangma said such instances should be immediately reported.
Stating that deserving people cannot be deprived of their right to avail the scheme, he added that the programme should be implemented through social mobilization.
“People should also be assertive of their rights,” he said.