Exploiting the situation in which a lot of people are under financial stress, some tricksters have come up with a message that is in circulation on social media including WhatsApp. The message promises aid to families that have lost earning member in last one year. However, now, Woman and Child Development Department has dubbed the message as fake and has cautioned the people not to fall prey to it. For past several days, a message has gone viral on social media. The message is about ‘Mahila va Balkanya Yojana, Jijau/Jijamata Yojana’ for women who lost their husband between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. As per the viral message, the widow of the deceased person in the age-group of 21 years to 70 years is eligible for the scheme.

 

The message also promised Rs 50,000/- financial aid to each beneficiary. The message also carried a lady’s cellphone number with an appeal to contact her between 10 am and 6 pm. The message appealed to the people to forward the message to maximum number of people. When some people who got the message enquired with Woman and Child Development Department to get details of the said scheme, the department officials were shocked. The message was widely circulated on WhatsApp in all the districts in Nagpur Division.

 

Finally, taking note of the message, the office of Deputy Commissioner (Woman and Child Development) in Nagpur issued a letter to the department’s district offices to make the people aware about the fakeness of the message. The department made it clear on Monday that the said message was completely fake and no such scheme was being implemented by the department. “Citizens are likely to get duped by falling prey to such messages. People need to exercise caution,” stated Aparna Kolhe, District Woman and Child Development Officer, Nagpur.