Gurugram: The BJP’s Nayab Saini government has notified a financial aid of Rs 2,100 per month to eligible women above the age of 23 under the Lado Lakshmi Yojna, fulfilling an election promise made a year ago. The scheme will come into effect from September 25.
The September 15 notification, however, mentions strict eligibility and exclusion norms which would limit the number of beneficiaries to about 20 lakh—far short of the approximately 80 lakh women voters between the ages of 18 and 60. It is also the number of adult women, excluding those above 60 years of age who already get the benefit of old-age pension.
In its budget for 2025-26, the Haryana government had kept a provision of Rs. 5,000 crore for the Lado Lakhmi Scheme, a little less than Rs 5,040 crore required if the benefit is to be given to 20 lakh women in the state.
The scheme was notified by the Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Antyodaya (SEWA) Department, with the purpose to “enhance women empowerment through building financial independence and ensuring social security”.
The notification, signed by Additional Chief Secretary G. Anupama with the approval of the Council of Ministers dated August 28, provides the framework of the scheme in detail.
Also Read: Haryana budget unveils a ‘Department of Future’, allots Rs 5,000 crore to key BJP poll promise
Eligibility criteria
The scheme primarily targets women who are 23 years and older, from families with a verified yearly income of not exceeding Rs 1 lakh per year according to the Family Information Database Repository (FIDR) under the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme of the Haryana government.
Moreover, the woman—or her husband, in the case of marriage into Haryana from a different state—has to be a resident of Haryana and must have lived in the state for a minimum of 15 years.
The exclusions are extensive, effectively narrowing the scheme’s reach. A woman is not eligible if she is in receipt of financial assistance under any of an exhaustive list of social security schemes including the Old Age Samman Allowance Scheme, Financial Assistance to Widows and Destitute Women Rules, Haryana Divyang Financial Assistance Rules 2025 and Ladli Social Security Allowance.
Being a beneficiary of the Financial Assistance to Kashmiri Migrant Families, Haryana Allowance to Dwarf, Financial Assistance to Women and Girl Acid Attack Victims, Financial Assistance to Widower and Unmarried Persons Scheme 2023, Haryana Gaurav Samman Scheme for Padma Awardees would also exclude them, along with any other schemes notified by the government from time to time.
Additional exclusions are made if the woman is being paid any other government assistance, annuity, or pension from the government, local/statutory institutions, or government-run organisations.
Working—regular, contractual, full-time, or part-time—in any government ministry, local/statutory institution, or government-run organisation excludes the woman if the family income is more than Rs 1 lakh. Lastly, any income tax payee is excluded from the scheme.
However, the scheme exempts benefits under schemes such as Financial Assistance to stage III and IV cancer patients, Financial Assistance to individuals affected by Rare Diseases, and assistance to individuals with Haemophilia, Thalassemia, and Sickle Cell Anemia.
BJP’s Sankalp Patra
The notification is not in line with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Sankalp Patra (manifesto) for the 2024 assembly elections, which had promised Rs 2,100 per month to “all women of Haryana” under the Lado Lakshmi Yojana as part of an overall thrust on women empowerment.
With Haryana having 95.77 lakh female voters in the 2024 election—about 80 lakh of them aged between 18 and 60 years—the assurance had created spectres of a universal dole, leaving out only those over 60 who were already taken care of under the Rs 3,000 old-age pension.
But the imposition of a 23-year minimum age, the Rs 1 lakh income limit, residency norms, and several exclusions have brought charges that the government is limiting the scheme under fiscal pressure.
BJP defends
State BJP spokesman Sanjay Sharma defended the criteria as a practical beginning rather than a watering down. “It is only a start and not a finish, and the situation may be relaxed in the near future,” Sharma told The Print.
“The government has made up its mind to roll it out through a portal in which the money will reach the accounts of women as a direct benefit transfer (DBT) process. So that there is no haphazard rush on the portal and things begin smoothly, the government made a decision to give this benefit in the first instance to those who are most in need. This is only the initiation of the scheme and not its culmination. More beneficiaries may be included as the government feels the necessity.”
He put the number of initial beneficiary at 20-25 lakh.
Political commentator Jyoti Mishra, an assistant professor of political science at Amity University, Mohali, believes that the Haryana government appears to have followed the example of the Ladli Behna Yojana in Madhya Pradesh and the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharashtra.
She said similar women-oriented cash transfer schemes are placing a burden of about Rs 22,400 crore per year on MP’s exchequer and up to Rs 46,000 crore on Maharashtra’s, aiding escalating debts estimated at Rs 4.81 lakh crore for MP and Rs 9.3 lakh crore for Maharashtra.
“These plans, though electorally rewarding in the short term, have stretched state finances, forcing budget reductions and beneficiary cuts elsewhere. Haryana, with its own budget problems, seems to be proceeding cautiously so as not to repeat mistakes,” Mishra told The Print.
The Madhya Pradesh government’s annual financial cost of the Ladli Behna Yojana in 2025 is estimated at around Rs 22,402 crore on the basis of the scheme’s revised monthly payment of Rs 1,500 each to 1.27 crore women, working out to Rs 1,867 crore per month.
This is after the government announced in July 2025 increasing the aid to Rs 1,500 from Rs 1,250 post-Diwali 2025.
Maharashtra also has a program called the Mukhyamantri-Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which offers monthly payments to women but is distinct from the original Madhya Pradesh Ladli Behna Yojana.
The Maharashtra programme was subject to cuts and reductions in participants and payments, and the state budget allocation decreased from Rs. 46,000 crore to Rs. 36,000 crore in 2025 because of fiscal pressures leading to criticism of the government.
Under the scheme, women between 21-65 years residing in Maharashtra having a bank account with Aadhaar and an annual family income of not more than Rs. 2.5 lakh, are eligible for the scheme.
In the poll-bound Bihar, the Congress has promised Rs 2,500 per month as stipend to women under the Mai Behan Maan scheme in case the Mahagathbandhan comes to power.
On the other hand, the Nitish Kumar-led JDU-BJP government announced a scheme last month whereby one woman from each family will be provided with an amount of Rs. 10,000 as first instalment for the start of an employment venture.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read:Populist promises in Congress & BJP manifestos for Haryana polls threaten to strain state’s budget