Lucknow, Sep 27 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government has set a target of linking at least two lakh new beneficiaries under the 'Kanya Sumangala Yojana' till December 2021.

Under the scheme, a girl child is given Rs 15,000 over a period of nearly 15 years starting from the time of her birth.

Women Welfare and Child Development Director Manoj Rai said the state government will identify new beneficiaries across all 75 districts.

"All districts have been asked to identify beneficiaries so that we can educate these girls and help make them self-reliant. The Uttar Pradesh Women Welfare and Child development department has issued an action plan in which all districts have been assigned specific targets and they will be working accordingly," he added.

Rai said phase-wise targets have been set for each district.

Till October 15, the districts have been directed to cover as many as 70,000 new beneficiaries. Similarly, 70,000 more beneficiaries have to be added in November.

In December, another 60,000 new beneficiaries will be added under the scheme.

The scheme was implemented on April 1, 2019 and has already benefited more than 10.01 lakh girls in the state. Funds have been transferred to them through direct bank transfer.

More than 1.55 lakh new beneficiaries were added to the scheme under the 'Mission Shakti' campaign.

Under the 'Kanya Sumangala Scheme', Rs 15,000 is given to beneficiaries in a phased manner, starting from the time of birth.

A sum of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 is given at birth and first vaccination, respectively.

This is followed by Rs 2,000 each at the time of admission in classes 1 to 6. The fifth instalment of Rs 3,000 is given when a girl is enrolled in class 9 while the final instalment of Rs 5,000 is disbursed when a girl, who has passed class 12, takes admission in a graduation or diploma course.

Meanwhile, 1.73 lakh new beneficiaries have been added to the 'destitute women' scheme in 2021-22, while a total of 12.36 lakh beneficiaries have been added over the past 4.5 years.