Results of the assembly elections in the five states will be declared on Sunday (3rd December). In the multiple phases of counting on the result day, the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading the trends in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This means the party is retaining Madhya Pradesh and snatching power from Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This makes its way to power clear yet again in the Hindi heartland state.
The ruling BJP is heading towards a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, as it is leading in 162 seats, against 66 starts led by Congress. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has proved the mettle of his leadership for one more time in the state. His emphasis on uplifting the women in the state through various welfare schemes by the government has become Madhya Pradesh’s new identity in the past many years.
One such scheme was launched by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan months before the state assembly election, and it turned out to be the game changer in these elections. The Chief Minister Ladli Behna Yojana has resulted in a massive gain for the BJP in the state.
What formed the background of the Chief Minister Ladli Behna Yojana?
Madhya Pradesh has historically been among the BIMARU states. The acronym BIMARU essentially indicates underdeveloped states in the Hindi heartland of north India. This includes Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The three states carved out of the BIMARU states were also included in this term. Therefore, this region along with Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand represented an unpardonable apathy of the successive governments in these states towards the people. Madhya Pradesh was one of those backward states before the BJP came back to power in 2003.
Even after sustained efforts by the successive BJP governments since 2003 (barring a brief stint from December 2018 to March 2020 of the Congress government under Kamal Nath’s leadership), the state showed poor numbers on multiple aspects of development. The situation of women, especially in the tribal areas, needed yet more attention. Shivraj Singh Chouhan became the CM of the state for the first time in 2005. Since then he has given more importance to women’s empowerment to ensure an all-round development of the state that thrives more on rural and agrarian economies where women can play a crucial role if empowered properly.
According to the state’s data, in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, 57.7 per cent of men are active participants in the labour force, whereas only 23.3 per cent of women engage in labour. Likewise, in urban settings, male participation in the labour force stands at 55.9 per cent, while only 13.6 per cent of women are involved. This stark contrast highlights the evident disparity in labour force participation between men and women, impacting women’s economic self-reliance. CM Ladli Behna Yojana was started by Shivraj Singh Chouhan to address this issue.
The Chief Minister Ladli Behna Yojana was started on 28th January 2023
To enhance the economic self-reliance of women and ensure consistent improvement in the health and nutrition levels of both women and dependent children, the Government of Madhya Pradesh announced the implementation of the ‘Mukhyamantri Laadli Behna Yojana’ across the entire state on January 28, 2023. Under this initiative, women receive monthly financial assistance of Rs. 1000, marking a significant stride in promoting women’s health, nutrition, and economic empowerment. This scheme reflected a crucial step in strengthening the pivotal role of women within families.
The implementation of the scheme not only aimed at improving the health and nutrition of women and dependent children but also resulted in a noticeable enhancement in their economic independence. Women became more financially autonomous, prioritising their expenditures following their preferences.
The financial assistance received by women not only empowered them to utilise local resources for the development of self-employment and livelihood opportunities but also played an effective role in influencing decisions at the family level.
Who is eligible to get the benefit of this scheme?
The scheme is meant for married women citizens of Madhya Pradesh between the age of 23 to 60. This includes widows, separated, divorcees, and abandoned ones as well. All they need to do is register for the scheme on a government portal at their respective ward camps or gram panchayat camps furnishing the details of their bank accounts, Aadhar card number for KYC, and mobile phone number.
To date, more than 1.25 Cr (precisely 12533145) women in Madhya Pradesh applied for this scheme and out of them 12505947 women were found eligible and received the benefits of this scheme. Notably, these women are from the lowest strata of the state. This is because married women from families whose collective income is below 2.5 lakh rupees per annum are eligible for this scheme. Most of these families do not even file income tax returns because they have very little income.
The scheme started to deposit the money in the accounts of women in June 2023. Since then, this fund has been received in the first week of every month by these women through direct benefit transfer. Empowering these women changed the picture altogether for Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Hike in the aid and other schemes for women of MP by Mamaji
On Sunday (27 August), Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan organised a ‘Ladli Behna Sammelan’ at Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal to mark the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Speaking at the event, he gave several gifts to nearly 1.25 crores of women in the state, while honouring them as his own ‘mothers’ and sisters, in line with his endearing nickname ‘Mamaji’. The women and girl children have affectionately given him the moniker Mamaji.
Citing the holy month of ‘Shrawan’, the state Chief Minister announced a 25% hike in the financial aid that is given to women under the Ladli Behna scheme by his government. This brought up the aid from Rs 1000 per month to Rs 1250 per month. CM Chouhan said that this additional benefit would reflect from October 2023. Later on, the amount will gradually be hiked to Rs 3,000 per month so that the aim of uplifting the economic and social condition of women is fulfilled, the CM added.
CM Chouhan added that the state government will now give 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs. Regarding job reservations, he conveyed that the reservation for women in government jobs has been raised to 35 per cent from the current 30 per cent and it will be 50 per cent in teachers’ recruitment. Further, he added that the government will make a permanent system to provide a gas cylinder for women at Rs 450 starting from August 2023.
The Assam connection
While the Ladli Behna Scheme has become a pivotal scheme in ensuring BJP’s victory in MP, it is notable that this scheme was inspired by the Orunodoi scheme launched by the BJP govt in Assam. Under the Orunodoi scheme launched in 2020, eligible women are given ₹ 1250 per month through DBT. In July this year, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the number of beneficiaries will be increased to 35 lakh, and the monthly assistance under the scheme will be increased to ₹1400.
As per reports, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma met Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP ahead of the launch of the Ladli Behna. Moreover, officials of the Assam government gave presentations to the Madhya Pradesh government officials twice on the Orunodoi scheme, and apart from that two separate video conferences were also held between officials of the two governments before the Madhya Pradesh state budget was finalised.
Not just the Ladli Behna scheme, the Mahtari Vandan Yojana announced by BJP in Chhattisgarh is also remarkably similar to the Assam’s scheme. This scheme promises ₹1000 to every married woman as per the eligibility criteria.
When the Orunodoi scheme was launched in 2020, the monthly benefit amount was ₹830. After that, it was raised to ₹1000 and then to ₹1250.
Massive surge in the BJP tally
In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP was reduced to 109 seats which was 7 short of the magic figure of 116 in the 230-member house. The party sat in the opposition till March 2020 when Jyotiraditya Scindhia defected from Congress along with 18 other MLAs and joined the BJP. The defected MLAs were reelected on a BJP ticket giving a clear majority to the BJP in the state assembly.
Now, in the current trends during the counting of votes, the BJP is leading on 164 seats in Madhya Pradesh which is close to its historic tally of 165 in 2013. The detailed breakups of voting percentages and women’s share in the votes in various regions will surface after the completion of the counting. But, for now, this clean sweep by the BJP in all the administrative regions of the state shows that the CM Ladli Behna Yojana has played a vital role in bringing the BJP back to power in Madhya Pradesh for one more time.