4 min readBhopalUpdated: Aug 28, 2023 03:05 AM IST
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday raised the financial aid given to women in the poll-bound state under the Ladli Behna scheme from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 1,250, saying it was a Raksha Bandhan gift.
Chouhan also announced increased reservations for women in government jobs, and said cooking gas cylinders would be made available for Rs 450 in the state this month.
“Regardless of caste or religion – whether Hindu or Muslim – all are sisters, and all will receive equal benefits from the schemes,” Chouhan said.
“Women will get cooking gas at Rs 450 in the holy month of Sawan. Later, a permanent system will be evolved in this regard. I have also transferred Rs 250 into the accounts of 1.25 crore women so that they can celebrate Rakhi well. The rest of the Rs 1,000 (under the Ladli Behna Yojana) will be credited in September,” Chouhan said.
To this end, the government transferred a total of Rs 312.64 crore to the accounts of women beneficiaries on Sunday. So far, under the Ladli Behna scheme, a total of Rs 3,628.85 crore have been transferred to the accounts of beneficiaries in three instalments.
Under the scheme, women in the 23-60 age group get a monthly amount transferred to their accounts if they are not income tax payees and the annual income of their families is less than Rs 2.5 lakh.
Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections set to be held later this year, the BJP considers the Ladli Behna scheme as one of its trump cards, with the CM promising in election rallies to eventually bring the amount distributed under the scheme to Rs 3,000 per month. The scheme is estimated to have an impact on 48 per cent of women voters in the state.
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On Sunday, Chouhan announced that reservations for women in government and police recruitment would be increased from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, and that in teacher recruitment, this would go up to 50 per cent.
Moreover, he said liquor shops in an area can be shut down if more than 50 per cent women of the area oppose it.
Chouhan also announced that women would get tracts of land in industrial areas to open small scale units, adding that the aim of the state government was to raise the income of women to at least Rs 10,000 per month.
These promises have been met with a sharp reaction from the Opposition Congress party. State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath said, “I never thought that a person could use a sacred festival like Raksha Bandhan in an attempt to fulfil their hunger for power.”
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In May, Nath had announced the Nari Samman Yojana as a counter to the BJP government’s Ladli Behna Yojana. Under the Congress’s scheme, the party promised to give women monthly aid of Rs 1,500 and LPG cylinders at Rs 500.
On Chouhan’s announcement of Rs 450 gas cylinder, Nath said, “No one knows who will be eligible for this Rs 450 gas cylinder and who will be ineligible.”
Referring to the fact that 1.25 crore women were registered for the Ladli Behna scheme, Nath asked, “Doesn’t this mean that during your 18-year rule, about 75 per cent of the population became economically weaker and the stipulated amount for their development was offered as a bribe for corruption?”
