MP govt hikes financial aid, 35% reservation in govt jobs for women ahead of Rakhi : Ladli Behna Scheme

MP govt hikes financial aid, 35% reservation in govt jobs for women ahead of Rakhi : Ladli Behna Scheme

Apart from this, the MP CM also announced 35 percent reservation for them in government jobs and said cooking gas cylinders will be provided to women at ₹450 in August to mark ‘Sawan’.

“Women will get cooking gas at ₹450 in the holy month of Sawan. Later, a permanent system will be evolved in this regard. I have also transferred ₹250 into the accounts of 1.25 crore women so that they can celebrate Rakhi (on Tuesday) well. The rest of the ₹1,000 (under Ladli Behna Yojana) will be credited in September,” Chouhan said.

The CM said that 1.25 crore women will get ₹1,250 (under Ladli Behna Yojana) from 1 October and the amount will gradually be hiked to ₹3,000 per month so that the aim of uplifting the economic and social condition of women is fulfilled.

He also said that from the current 30 percent, the reservation for women in government jobs has been raised to 35 percent, while it will be 50 percent in teachers’ recruitment.

Among others, under the scheme, women will get tracts of land in industrial estates to open small-scale units, said the CM adding that the state government aimed to raise the income of women to at least ₹10,000 per month.

Women will be given free land in villages and plots in cities that have been cleared of encroachments, Chouhan added.

Under the Ladli Behna Yojana, which started on 10 June this year, a sum of ₹3,628.85 crore has been given as financial aid to eligible women, says the government data.

Women in the 23-60 age group get ₹1,000 per month under the scheme if they are not income tax payees and the annual income of their families is less than ₹2.5 lakh annually.

As the Assembly polls are likely to be held at the end of the year in MP, Congress mocked the move with state unit chief Kamal Nath writing on X that the BJP was trying to salvage its sinking ship.

Hitting out at the sops ahead of Assembly polls, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath said on X, “I am often repeating that this BJP government was changing colors daily to salvage its sinking ship and is doing precious little for people.”

Nath claimed that even after ruling for 18 years, the BJP is playing tricks and resorting to gimmicks, which proves it can do no good for citizens.

The party also took on X and said about its poll promises like ₹1,500 financial aid to women, gas cylinders for ₹500, free power for up to 100 units, restoration of Old Pension Scheme, 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes, and caste-based survey.

In MP, women voters outnumber their male counterparts in at least 18 of the 230 Assembly seats, including in tribal-dominated areas like Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori, Alirajpur, and Jhabua.

Since 2018, the number of new women voters in MP rose by 2.79 percent, while it is 2.30 percent for male voters, officials said. Of the 13.39 lakh new voters, 7.07 lakh are women.