Around ₹50,000 crore allocated for women-centric schemes

Maharashtra state budget allocates ₹50,000 crore for women-centric schemes; includes ₹1,500 monthly allowance for eligible women.

Mumbai: A monthly allowance of ₹1,500 for women headlines the women-centric schemes outlined in the state budget, with the Mahayuti government looking to woo 50% of the state’s electorate ahead of the assembly elections. The total annual allocation for women-centric schemes in the state budget is around ₹50,000 crore.

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The ₹1,500 allowance is part of the flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which will be implemented in July and has an annual allocation of ₹46,000 crore. The benefit can be claimed by women whose annual family income is not more than ₹2.5 lakh, who is a domicile of the state and none of her family members are eligible to pay income tax.

The Mahayuti, which received a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, appears to have taken a leaf from its neighbour’s book. In Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party government could retain power due to support from women voters in response to the Mukhyamantri Ladli Bahena Yojana.

Apart from Ladki Bahin, the government also announced free higher education (engineering, medicine, pharmacy and agriculture) for girls from the OBC community and families with annual income below ₹8 lakh, with allocation of ₹2,000 crore. In a big relief for over 5.2 million families, the state government will provide three free gas cylinders under the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana, with an estimated expenditure of ₹1,255 crore this year. The government will provide financial assistance of ₹80 crore to provide 10,000 pink e-rickshaws for women across 17 cities in Maharashtra.

Besides this, the government said it will provide the necessary facilities and assistance to women’s self-help groups, with a target to make 2.5 million “Lakhpati Didis” – women who earn more than ₹1 lakh through the self-help group. A subsidy under the Shubh Mangal Samhuhik Nondandikrut Vivah or registered mass weddings has been increased from ₹10,000 to ₹25,000. A provision of ₹78 crore has been made for cancer screening materials. The government also said that work to install 2,104,932 household water pipe connections in rural areas is in process.