Bhopal: Celebrating an early Raksha Bandhan with beneficiaries of the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ during the ‘Ladli Behna Sammelan’ in capital city Bhopal’s Jamuri Maidan Sunday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a slew of announcements.
With barely months to go for assembly elections in the state, these announcements are being seen as an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to woo women voters.
Chouhan, popularly known as ‘mama’ (uncle) by his supporters, increased the monthly stipend under the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,250 of which Rs 250 were released into the accounts of the beneficiaries right away, while the remaining amount for September will be deposited by the 10th of the month.
He also released a ‘Ladli Behna calendar’ on the occasion. Launched on 15 March this year, under this scheme, women between the ages of 21 and 60 were initially getting Rs 1,000 per month — which Chouhan has promised to gradually increase to Rs 3,000.
Women comprise nearly 48.20 percent of Madhya Pradesh’s 5.39 crore-strong electorate, according to state election commission (SEC) data.
The ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ alone has 1.25 crore beneficiaries, while the state has at least 50 other schemes that cover women and girls of all age groups. The 2018 assembly elections saw 73.86 percent women step out to vote. Moreover, there are 18 constituencies in the state in which women voters outnumber male voters, according to the SEC data.
Among the other announcements were the provision of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at a slashed price of Rs 450 in the holy month of ‘sawan’ (4 July to 31 August), and a relief on ‘inflated electricity bills’.
Soon after Chouhan’s announcements, Congress spokesperson Piyush Babele took to X to claim, “While Shivraj wants to copy Kamal Nath, even in doing so, he does not have a clear conscience. Kamal Nath has announced that women will be given Rs 1,500 after which Shivraj promised Rs 3,000 but ended up giving only Rs 1,250. Similarly, Kamal Nath ji also announced a gas cylinder for Rs 500 which Chouhan copied.”
He added, in another post , “In three days, the month of sawan will come to an end and with it, the announcement of getting a cylinder at Rs 450. While the Congress promised 100 units of free electricity, Chouhan could only manage to say that inflated bills will not be recovered, and in doing so, he himself admitted that citizens are being sent inflated bills.”
सावन के महीने में सिलेंडर 450 का मिलेगा। 3 दिन में सावन का महीना ख़त्म हो जाएगा और घोषणा ख़त्म।
ना नौ मन तेल होगा, ना सिलेंडर सस्ता मिलेगा? https://t.co/aNG3Ma036p
— Piyush Babele||पीयूष बबेले (@BabelePiyush) August 27, 2023
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Interest-free loans, hiked quotas
Speaking about ill-effects of alcoholism, Chouhan assured that all ahatas (eating joints) outside liquor shops will be shut down and provisions will be made in the state’s liquor policy to shutter any liquor outlet in a locality where ‘more than half the women oppose it’.
He also said women often complained to him about inflated electricity bills and promised that the government will make necessary arrangements for the same.
मेरी बहनों, आज मैं फैसला करता हूं कि बढ़े हुए बिजली के बिलों की वसूली नहीं होगी।
गरीब बहन का बिल हर महीने ₹100 आए, इसका इंतजाम किया जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/pW34mOY5tv
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) August 27, 2023
“In September, inflated electricity bills will be turned to ‘zero’. After that, arrangements are being made to bring the bill down to Rs 100 for women living below the poverty line who have connections in their name,” the chief minister said.
He also promised to provide free plots to landless women in rural areas of the state, and said that houses will be built for women living in cities.
Further, Chouhan said that all women beneficiaries of the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ will be covered under Ajeevika Mission and provided interest-free loans. In addition to that, he announced that the government will hike the quota for women in police departments from 30 to 35 percent, and make a provision for 50 percent reservation in educational institutes for women, and ensure preferential appointment of women in state departments.
Chouhan emphasised that safety, honour and empowerment of women were of utmost priority for his government and that all these decisions were a step in that direction. He added that the state government has passed a bill to ensure death sentence for rapists.
“It is my dream to make my sisters lakhpatis (earning a minimum of Rs 1 lakh a year),” he declared, adding that all the benefits of these various schemes were being availed equally by all his “sisters”, be they Hindu, Muslim or from any other religion.
Earlier during the day, the Congress launched 11 poll promises which included Rs 1,500 monthly for women in the state, gas cylinder for Rs 500, up to 100 units of free electricity, loan waivers for farmers, and implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees. Some of these announcements were first made by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in July in a rally in Jabalpur to kickstart the party’s poll campaign.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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