Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the Odisha government’s flagship women-centric initiative, Subhadra Yojana, besides other railway and national highway projects.

The Prime Minister, who turns 74 today, received a rousing traditional welcome with tribal folk dances and drumbeats at Biju Patnaik International Airport, where thousands of supporters greeted him on his birthday.

In his social media platform ‘X’, Mr Modi said the Subhadra Yojana will boost women’s empowerment and ensure financial independence for our ‘Nari Shakti’. All eligible women between the ages of 21 and 60 will receive 50,000 rupees over five years.

The initiative is expected to cover more than one crore women. Prime Minister Modi initiated the fund transfer of 1250 crore rupees into the bank accounts of 25 lakh 11 women during his visit.

Earlier, Mr Modi visited a slum area at Gadakana in Bhubaneswar and interacted with 20 beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban. He handed over the keys of their houses built under the Yojana to the beneficiaries.

The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation and laid the foundation of railway projects worth 2,800 crore rupees and national highway projects worth more than 1,000 crore rupees. He also released the first instalment of assistance of 3180 crore rupees to nearly 10 lakh beneficiaries under PMAY-Gramin of around 14 states.

The Griha Pravesh (house worming) celebrations for 24 lakh 37 thousand PMAY (Gramin and Urban) from across the country were also held during the programme. The Prime Minister launched the ‘Awaas+ 2024’ app for the survey of additional households for PMAY-Gramin. He also launched the operational guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0.