Thiruvananthapuram: The State Government has spent an amount of Rs 47,27,19,000 over the last four and a half years for the comprehensive development of the girls from Scheduled Caste under the ‘Vatsalyanidi’ scheme.

So far 12,121 girls have benefited from the scheme which is available to SC girls belonging to economically backward families with an annual income limit of up to Rs. 1 lakh. This scheme is being implemented jointly by the Scheduled Caste Development Department and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The girl will get an amount of Rs 3 lakhs from LIC on completion of 18 years of age.

To join the scheme, a girl child has to be registered within nine months of her birth. Girls born after April 01, 2017, are included in the scheme. The application has to be submitted to the Block, Municipality, Corporation or Scheduled Caste Development Offices. On successful completion of registration, the Scheduled Caste Development Department will invest an amount of Rs 1,38,000 with LIC in four instalments in the name of the girl.

When the girl is nine months old, the first instalment of Rs. 39,000 will be deposited in LIC. The second instalment of Rs 36,000 will be invested on completion of five years of age, at the time of primary school admission. The third instalment of Rs. 33,000 will be deposited in LIC on completion of 10 years of age at the time of admission to Class V. The last and the fourth instalment of Rs. 30,000 will be deposited on completing 15 years of age.