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Madhya Pradesh’s “Ladli Behna” comes as succour for poor but price rise hurts
According to MP government officials, the state is spending ₹1,210 crore per month to benefit about 12.5 million woman beneficiaries under the Ladli Behna scheme
Sonam Uikey, 40, a tribal woman from Mohli village in Chhindwara district, the home turf of state Congress president Kamal Nath, was elated when she got the first installment of ₹1,000 under the Ladli Behna scheme (LBS), which provides financial support to eligible women, this June. With the money she got back her anklet deposited at a local pawn shop as the family needed money to visit a relative and attend a wedding function in May.
Parvati Yadav, 35, from Amarwada block in Chhindwara, used ₹3,000 she has received under the scheme, to pay for her husband’s medical treatment.
Around 260 kms north of Chhindwara in Bundelkhand region, Narvo Ahirwar, 48, a resident of Dhana village in Sagar district, spends the amount she gets under the scheme on items of daily necessity..
Uikey with her husband and two sons, labourers, earn up to ₹10,000 every month mainly during Kharif season, when they get work locally. They have an acre of agriculture land, which is hardly sufficient to meet daily living costs. “Most of this money goes into paying back the money taken on credit,” she said.
Pravati, who has two daughters and they earn between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 a month, said the Ladli Behna Scheme ensured her husband got “timely medicines”. “Once I collect ₹7000, I will buy a sewing machine with some more savings I have and do the work of tailoring along with my daughters.”
Ahirwar, is waiting for the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, to increase the monthly allowance under the scheme to ₹3,000 per month as has been indicated. “Once that happens, our family will be much more secure financially,” she said.
Although they used the LBS allowance differently, they have something in common: They are all hurt by the price rise of essentials and lack of government jobs.
“An LPG cylinder costs more than ₹1100. We can’t buy tomato as it is being sold at ₹140-150 per kg. At ration shops, our quota of wheat has been reduced from 5 kg per head to 2 kg per head. The rice being supplied to us is of poor quality. The government must take some immediate measures to check price rise,” Narvo said.
To counter the success of the LBS, the opposition, Congress, has promised a monthly stipend of ₹1,500 per month as part of its election guarantee. The grand old party has also said it would provide cooking gas cylinders for ₹500 as is being done in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan, which is also going to polls with Madhya Pradesh in November-December 2023, the big state elections before 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Chouhan while launching the Ladli Behna scheme from Jabalpur on June 10 had promised that the amount would be increased up to ₹3,000 per month in a phased manner beginning with ₹1,250 per month.
“Sisters, your brother will speak to you before Rakshabandhan on August 27 and one more gift,” posted Chouhan on Twitter on Thursday dropping enough hint on increasing the amount. A senior BJP leader aware of the developments said Chouhan is expected to increase the amount to ₹1,250 per month that day.
“Baat bharose ki hai. Ladli behno ko abhi ₹1,000 de rahe hain, jald hi ₹3000 bhi denege. Janata hai Bhajpa ke saath (This is a matter of faith. Beloved sisters are getting ₹1000 (per month) now. They will get ₹3000 (per month) soon. People are with the BJP”, said Chouhan on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken about “Revadi” culture (freebies for the public as promised by political parties) while attending a programme in Satna district of the state in October last year, just a few months before Gujarat and Himachal assembly elections. He said the freebies offered by opposition parties was a sweet meat to garner just votes and could drain government finances.
Also Read: MP govt begins process to give ₹1k to 12 million women under Ladli Behna scheme
As it turns out, Modi’s own party is doing the same in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
“The BJP government in MP itself overlooked the PM’s concern over revadi culture for the sake of political advantage in elections. The state government has to take loans to meet the expenditure on the scheme. This is badly affecting financial health and development of the state,” political observer Dinesh Gupta said.
According to MP government officials, the state is spending ₹1,210 crore per month to benefit about 12.5 million woman beneficiaries under the LBS. As per officials, the state government has made a provision of ₹8,000 crore initially in the budget for the scheme which will be sufficient to pay ₹1,000 per month until the elections.
The budgetary allocation, however, will have to be increased if the monthly allowance has to be hiked.
Officials said the Congress’ promise to fund a similar scheme -- if the party comes to power in the state poll -- will cost the state exchequer about ₹20,000 crore annually considering that five month expenditure of Ladli Behna is ₹8,000 crore.
As per the annual budget tabled in the state assembly during the budget session, the state’ debt stood at ₹3 lakh crore which, as per officials, is expected to cross ₹3.85 lakh crore by the end of the present financial year. The increase in state debt in the current financial year has been highest in the past five years.
State Congress media in charge KK Mishra said, “The BJP has indulged in a political gimmick for the sake of votes. If this scheme is (for) beyond elections, why (does the) BJP government not talk of guarantees like Congress? The fact is Chouhan knows that his government will not return to power. (And)We will begin to give ₹1500 per month to women and LPG cylinders at ₹500 per cylinder to every family as guaranteed.”
(With input from Bhojraj Raghuvanshi in Chhindwara and Anupam Pateriya in Sagar)
