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Women outreach: Madhya Pradesh CM unveils aid and quota
Experts said that the CM’s announcements were aimed at wooing the over 26 million women voters in the state who make up 40% of the total voting population
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a slew of announcements targeted at women in the state on Sunday — ₹1,250 to each recipient of the Laadli Behna scheme; ₹250 to women beneficiaries on Raksha Bandhan; 35% reservation for women in government jobs; and gas cylinders for ₹450 — in the run-up to the assembly elections in the state later this year.
Speaking at a Ladli Behna scheme event at Jamboree ground in Bhopal, Chouhan said these schemes emanated from the spirit of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) larger promise of “sabka vikas” (development for all).
“These schemes are being given to all my sisters irrespective of caste and religion, whether they are Hindu or Muslim,” the CM said. “I have arranged these funds for sisters to celebrate Raksha Bandhan. ₹1,250 (for beneficiaries of the Laadli Behna scheme) will be deposited in the accounts of my dear sisters from October. In this holy month of Sawan, gas cylinders will be given to women for ₹450. We will make permanent arrangements after that.”
The Laadli Behna scheme, first announced by the Madhya Pradesh government this March, promises ₹1,000 per month to 12.5 million beneficiaries in the state. Chauhan also announced that 35% reservation will be given to women in all government jobs, and 50% in teacher recruitment.
His announcement on the reduced gas cylinder prices, which usually cost around ₹1,110, comes after the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee announced in June that it would provide cylinders for ₹500 if it comes to power in the elections expected in November-December.
Chouhan said that his aim was to make the women of the state “lakhpati”.
“Beneficiaries of the Laadli Behna scheme will be given loans from the bank and interest will be paid by the government. Land will also be reserved for them in industrial areas, and they will get free plots in urban and rural areas to construct homes,” he said.
He added that homes that are in the name of women, will only have to pay ₹100 for electricity from October.
An officer of women and child development department, said that the announcements amount to ₹400 crore per month under the Ladli Behna scheme, and over ₹600 crore in the month when LPG cylinders will be provided at a subsidised rate.
In the past six months, Chouhan has announced the Ladli Behna scheme for women, Sky (Sikho Kamoa Yojna) for the youth, scooters for meritorious students, an and increase in salary for Asha workers, panchayat secretaries, sarpanch, Aganwadi workers and others. He has also raised the amount to be given under the farmers’ scheme, Kisam Samman Nidhi, by ₹2,000 per year.
Experts said that the CM’s announcements were aimed at wooing the over 26 million women voters in the state who make up 40% of the total voting population. “CM Chouhan has tried to convey that all women are the same for him and they should stay united to support him. Like UP where the BJP created a class of beneficiaries, similarly here they are trying to bifurcate it further by creating a separate class of women beneficiaries,” said political analyst Dinesh Gupta.
The Congress called the decisions opportunistic. “CM Chouhan has been in power for the past 18 years, and he failed to change the lives of women in MP. Now, he is seeing his defeat in upcoming assembly elections so he is making promises like providing cylinder at subsidised rates during sawan and closing liquor shops. These announcements can’t fool the women of MP,” said KK Mishra, media in-charge, MP Congress Committee.
