AP Government’s new scheme to benefit 90 lakh DWCRA employees

The Andhra Pradesh state government has been vocal about its ‘Navaratnalu’ scheme and has been announcing all the new schemes that the state’s citizens can take benefit of in the coming months. In the latest, the state cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss some crucial aspects and budget allowances for various schemes being doled out in the next couple of years. In a big development, the AP state government has decided that nearly 90 lakh DWCRA women entrepreneurs will be receiving a sum of Rs. 27,000 crore over the next four years under the ‘YSR Aasara Scheme.’ The government has also taken a decision to establish another electronics manufacturing cluster in the state. Aside from Clusters 1 and 2 in Chittoor district, an additional cluster is going to be set up in Kadapa.

Aside from the YSR Aasara Scheme, the state cabinet has also green signalled home-delivery of rations including rice, pulses, and other essentials to ration card holders starting from 1 December 2020. While this plan was in the pipeline and was scheduled to be stated much earlier, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to the scheme being deferred. The cabinet has also approved the distribution of free school supplies including notebooks, school bags and uniforms to the students ahead of their new academic year set to begin on 5 September 2020. Several other issues were discussed during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday which lasted over two hours.

Earlier last week, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jaganmohan Reddy launched the YSR Cheyutha scheme. This scheme was initiated to provide monetary support to socio-economically deprived women, in the age group of 45-60 years. YSR Cheyutha scheme has been designed by the state government to help the women across the state to build strong and rewarding businesses, thereby ushering them into entrepreneurship. The new scheme will benefit about 23 lakh women belonging to SC, ST, BC, and minority communities in the state. As soon as the scheme was launched, an amount of Rs 18,750 has been transferred directly to the bank accounts of all the beneficiaries. Reportedly, the women will be paid a total sum of Rs 75,000 in four years at the rate of Rs 18,750 per annum.