Express News Service By

The Karnataka government will launch a new scheme ‘Bidayee’ to help poor Muslim girls by providing financial assistance for their marriage, Minister for Minorities Welfare Qamar-ul-Islam said on Wednesday.

At a press meet here, Islam said the State Cabinet and Finance Department have cleared the scheme. A sum of `5 crore has been set aside for the purpose. “We aim to provide financial assistance to 1,000 poor families of the Muslim community to help them with their daughters’ marriage. Each district has been given a target based on the Muslim population there,” he said.

“In order to be eligible for ‘Bidayee’, the annual income of the family should be less than `1.50 lakh. The girl’s application would be processed within a month and each beneficiary would get financial assistance of `50,000,” he explained.

The minister also said the Nagarottana Yojana would be implemented in 19 cities of Karnataka, including Haveri, Dharwad, Kolar, Chikballapur, Kodagu, Hassan, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar, Bangalore (rural), Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Bijapur, Chitradurga and Koppal.