PDP raises question on pendency of Rs 70 Cr for marriage assistance, Rs 200 Cr under Ladli Beti

Jammu, Feb 20: PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para on Friday questioned the non-release of Rs 70 crore and Rs 200 crore under the Marriage Assistance and Ladli Beti schemes respectively in the last three financial years, including the current one.

Para took a dig at the National Conference-led government in J&K for failing to address this constituency of poor people, for whom such schemes were carved out. In a post on X, he said of the Rs 300 crore “disbursed” under the Ladli Beti scheme, an amount of Rs 200 crore is still pending and “Rs 234 crore marked as ‘disbursed’ under Marriage Assistance has Rs 70 crore still in the treasury”.

Questioning the government on the issue, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) legislator said, “If Rs 70 crore and Rs 200 crore haven’t even left the treasury and are stuck with finance, how is this called disbursal?” Terming it paperwork dressed up as relief, he said, “The poor need money in hand, not figures in files. Who will answer for this, @CM_JnK?” The Jammu and Kashmir government has disbursed more than Rs 364 crore under the Marriage Assistance and Ladli Beti schemes in the last three financial years, including the current year, the Assembly was informed.

In a written reply to an unstarred question from Para, the government said under the Marriage Assistance scheme, an amount of Rs 130 crore each was disbursed in 2023-24 and 2024-25, benefitting 26,000 people each year.

For the current financial year (2025-26, as on date), an amount of Rs 234 crore has been disbursed among 44,301 beneficiaries, the reply from the government said. “The amount includes bills amounting to Rs 70.08 crore pending in the treasury for payment,” it added.