Rajkot: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupanilaunched from his home town Rajkot the ‘VhaliDikri Yojna’, meaning Dear Girl’, to mark his 63rd birth anniversary today.

It is a statewide cash incentive scheme for every girl child born in Gujarat, with a view to raising the female birthrate at par with male to achieve gender equality. It entails the State Government will pay Rs.4,000 to every girl child at the time of admission to Standard IV, Rs.6,000 at the time of taking admission to Standard IX, Rs.1-lakh at the time of taking admission for higher education at the age of 18, and another Rs.1-lakh at the time of marriage.

Speaking at a Seva Setu Mega Camp jointly organized by the district administration and Municipal Corporation at the Dharmendra College Ground to mark the day, he said that Rs.133-crore has been allocated in this year’s state budget. He said the birth of a girl child in the state is welcome and in no case can female feticide be tolerated.

In another decision, he said that while the widow pension scheme has been renamed as widow lifetime assistance scheme, extending it for the widow’s lifetime which earlier used to stop after her child attained the age of 18. The amount has also been increased from Rs.750 to Rs.1,250.

Mr. Rupani handed over assistance under various schemes to 63 beneficiaries to mark the day, and 63 women greeted him with a basketful of fruits. He was also felicitated and presented a memento by the government officials. A book was released and a documentary on VhalaDikri Yojna was screened on the occasion.

Assistance worth Rs.171-crore is scheduled to be handed over to 3,100 beneficiaries by the Chief Minister and other dignitaries during the Seva Setu Mega Camp.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Ganpatbhai Vasava thanked the Chief Minister on behalf of all girls of the state for launching VhalaDikri Yojna.

Rajkot Mayor Binaben Acharya and Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani, among others, greeted Mr. Rupani.

Those present at the function included MLAs Lakhabhai Agathia. Arvindbhai Raiyani and Govindbhai Patel, Secretary Milind Torwane, Mrs. Anjaliben Rupani, Police Commissioner Manoj Agrawal, Collector Rahul Gupta, BJP City Unit President Kamleshbhai Mirani, Nitinbhai Bharadwaj, ex-MLA BhanubenBabaria, ex-Mayor Jaiman Upadhyay and a large number of employees.

– Information