Jaipur: The Rajasthan unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday issued an advertisement to promote one of the Vasundhara Raje government’s schemes, meant to encourage institutional deliveries of baby girls. So far, so good – except that the photo used in the ad is lifted straight out of The Wire‘s story on how the scheme isn’t reaching those it’s supposed to.The woman in the photo, Punam Kanwar, didn’t receive the Rs 50,000 in six instalments that she was promised under the Mukhyamantri Rajshri Yojana because incorrect delivery data was entered into the online payment system.The image of Kanwar with her daughter, and an ASHA workers holding up the baby’s birth certificate, was meant to depict the system errors that had led to Kanwar not receiving her dues. The birth certificate says Kanwar’s child is ‘female’, but the database says the child is ‘male’.Post by BJP Rajasthan on social media on Wednesday.While feeding Kanwar’s delivery data into the OJAS (Online JSY and Shubhlaxmi Payment System, the Rajasthan government’s online payment system), her child’s sex was mistakenly entered as ‘male’ by the hospital. Despite several complaints, this has not been changed.Kanwar possesses all the possible identification documents – Aadhaar, Bhamashah, birth certificate and bank account papers – required to seek monetary benefits from the state government’s Mukhyamantri Rajshri Yojana. However, she hasn’t been able to prove that she gave birth to a baby girl at Zanana hospital in Jaipur on October 10, 2016.Unaware of being touted as the ‘beneficiary’ of the scheme, Kanwar is still struggling to receive her dues.Kanwar was born dumb and can barely communicate through sign language. After she gave birth to a baby girl, her husband left her and she came to stay with her mother in Jaipur’s Murlipura area. Her mother tried to have the delivery data changed in the system, but the authorities didn’t pay attention to her grievances. Now, without making sure whether she ever received the payment, the Rajasthan government is using her image to promote the schemes launched by Vasundhara Raje.Kanwar’s mother passed away few months ago.“We don’t have any idea how my daughter’s image came out in the advertisement. All we know is that it’s been almost two years now, but Punam has still not received the payment. She did receive Rs 1,400 under the Janani Suraksha Yojana, but not the Rs 50,000 under the Mukhyamantri Rajashri Yojana. She lost her mother last month and her husband had already left her. The government scheme didn’t help her at all,” Samunder Singh, Kanwar’s father, told The Wire.According to the government, it has disbursed Rs 52.06 lakh to beneficiaries in the first instalment of the scheme and Rs 50.43 lakh in the second instalment.
