BENGALURU: The

has decided to end Shaadi Bhagya, a scheme launched by the Congress government under which a Muslim bride would receive a onetime grant of Rs 50,000 towards marriage expenses, by not allocating a single rupee in the budget announced last week.

Minorities welfare minister Shrimant Patil confirmed to TOI on Sunday that chief minister BS Yediyurappa has decided to discontinue the Bidaai scheme, which has benefited more than 1 lakh couples since its launch six years ago. “With no fresh budgetary allocation for the coming financial year, we’ll scrap the scheme,” he said, adding that more than 34,000 pending applications may be considered for payment of grant in the coming months.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who launched the scheme on November 13, 2013, soon after taking over as chief minister, called the BJP government “anti-minority” and said abolition of the community-friendly scheme confirmed its stance.

After the BJP government took office in July 2019, the department stopped accepting fresh applications in a clear hint that the scheme would hit the dead end sooner than later. Effectively, the applications received till March 2020 will be considered for payment of grant.

Minister Patil said his department will attempt to clear the applications pending from the previous government with nearly Rs 40 crore fund available for the scheme. “The unutilized fund under

should be used only for the stated purpose. I will meet the CM for the last round of disbursal,” he said.

The BJP government launched an identical scheme for the majority community — Saptapadi — in January this year amid indications that it may continue Shaadi Bhagya scheme for at least a year.

Community leader and former minister BZ Zameer Ahmad Khan, who represents Chamarajpet in the assembly, said the scheme had resonated well among poor Muslim families in Karnataka’s rural areas and the decision of the BJP government to scrap the scheme wasn’t surprising.

“In the year 2018, we increased the allocation for the scheme to Rs 60 crore, and wanted to set aside Rs 40 crore during the coalition government. While we knew perfectly well that the BJP government will scrap the scheme, they should at least clear the pending applications. The Muslim MLAs and MLCs have sought a meeting with the chief minister on Monday or Tuesday and we will urge him to continue the scheme or clear the pending applications,” he added.