To alleviate distress of the population living below the poverty line and other marginalized sections of the society, the Social Welfare Department has been doing exemplary work in their socio-economic upliftment.The newly launched schemes like AASRA and HUNNAR are addressing the multi-dimensional poverty. Schemes like Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS), pre and post-matric scholarships for students belonging to minority, further the financial empowerment of the poor sections of the society. The Department runs 35 schemes under Central, State and District sectors including ISSS, NSAP, SMAS, Hunnar, AASRA, Minority Scholarship programmes.The District Social Welfare Department Anantnag has done exemplary work by way of implementing these schemes and reaching out the people living in the district. Anantnag has achieved the distinction of being the first district in the State to have sanctioned and disbursed benefits under State Marriage Assistance Scheme.Under State Marriage Assistance Scheme, a total of 129 girl beneficiaries belonging to poor families were provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 48.375 lakh.
Similarly schemes like Hunnar to create a skilled human resource for sustainable employment entailing micro enterprises, cooperative societies and marketing are addressing the issue of unemployment to a large extent. The scheme is currently being implemented in association with Rural Development Department, Agriculture, Handicrafts, Handloom, Cooperative departments, JKEDI and J&KSWDC.Under AASRA scheme, a total of 2701 beneficiaries were provided assistance with zero balance accounts including insurance cover benefits under which the State Government would reimburse premium for a period of five years for Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana and Prime Minister Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. In the Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS) which is an umbrella scheme entailing pension provision for destitute, widows, old age persons and differently-abled persons to a tune of Rs 200-400 per month. Under ISSS, a total of 27813 beneficiaries are provided the monthly pension in the district, including 11423 women and 9487 physically challenged beneficiaries.To encourage the students belonging to minority communities and economically backward households, the Department is also providing financial assistance under pre-and-post-matric scholarship schemes to facilitate them to continue their education. Under pre-matric scholarship, a total of 3336 student beneficiaries, belonging to OBC have been provided scholarships amounting to Rs 32.41 lakh, while Rs 2.67 lakh have also been provided to 288 differently-abled student beneficiaries in the district.
About 64 student beneficiaries studying in ITIs have also been provided with a scholarship of Rs 1 lakh under pre-matric scholarship scheme.National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is a centrally-sponsored programme under which assistance is provided in categories like Indra Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Indra Gandhi National Window Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), Indra Gandhi National Disabled Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) and National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS).Under IGNOAPS, assistance to the tune of Rs 400 per month is provided to the BPL beneficiary who has attained the age of 60 yrs and whose age is below 79 yrs and a progressive addition of Rs 700 per month is made in case of those beneficiaries who have crossed the age of 80 yrs. Similarly, under IGNWPS and IGNDPS, a monthly assistance of Rs 500 is given per beneficiary while as under NFBS, a BPL family who has lost the bread-winner due to accidental or natural cause are provided one-time financial assistance of Rs 20,000 per household. Under the National Social Assistance Programme, 8802 beneficiaries in the age group of 60 and above are receiving financial assistance while 307 widows in the age group of 40 to 59 are also being provided a monthly assistance of Rs 500.To uplift the economically poor families of the district, who have lost their bread earner, a total of Rs 3.60 lakh were distributed to 18 such families under the National Family Benefit Scheme.