Amaravati, Jul 22 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday disbursed Rs 491 crore to 3.2 lakh women under 'YSR Kapu Nestham' scheme.

In this scheme, women from the castes of Kapu, Balija, Telaga and Ontari will benefit across the state.

"The state government had spent Rs 12,126 crore for the Kapu community through various welfare schemes in the last two years, where Rs 982 crore was spent alone on YSR Kapu Nestam," noted Reddy.

The welfare scheme offers a financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per annum akin to 'YSR Cheyuta' scheme to empower women with possible business opportunities through the companies the state government has tied up with.

Although the scheme was not listed in the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party's (YSRCP) election manifesto, Chief Minister said this was introduced to support women belonging to these four castes.

"A total of Rs 75,000 will be given to the women beneficiaries under this scheme in a span of five years... the amount will be credited in the unencumbered accounts of the women, where bankers were also instructed not to use this money for clearing old dues," he said.

Reddy alleged that the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government had spent only Rs 400 crore per annum despite promising Rs 1,000 every year for kapu caste welfare.

According to the Chief Minister, through direct beneficiary transfer (DBT) alone, state government had spent Rs 9,359 crore in the last two years for Kapu community, by implementing schemes like YSR Rythu Bharosa, Pension Kanuka, Amma Vodi, Aasara, Vidhya Deevena, YSR Bima, Vahana Mitra and others.

Other than DBT, Rs 2,767 crore was spent in the past two years via schemes such as Pedalandariki Illu, Sampoorna Poshana and Aarogyasri.