BJP women’s wing member shows the money received under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, in Thane.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced that over one crore eligible women in the State will start receiving ₹1,500 per month under the government’s ‘Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin’ scheme, which is set to launch on August 17, two days ahead of the Raksha Bandhan festival. Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on August 19.
He said that some eligible women had already received ₹3,000, covering two months (July and August), during the scheme’s trial run on Wednesday. “We expect that more than one crore eligible women will begin receiving ₹1,500 per month after the scheme is launched on Wednesday,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
The flagship scheme modelled after the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ introduced by the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government in Madhya Pradesh, was included in the supplementary budget presented by Deputy CM and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar and is expected to cost the State exchequer ₹46,000 crore annually. Under the scheme, underprivileged (annual family income capped at ₹2.5 lakh) women aged 21 to 65 years will get monthly financial assistance from the government.
Although the government planned to launch the scheme on August 17, it has now clarified that July will be considered the starting month. Consequently, eligible women will receive an initial installment of ₹3,000, covering two months.
With Assembly polls likely in October or November, the government, where Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), BJP, and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) share power, is positioning the financial assistance under the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme as a Raksha Bandhan gift to women.
“We have lived up to our words. We had promised that we will transfer ₹3000 to Women beneficiaries, whose bank account details have been scrutinised,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, asking the women to be wary of people who (the Opposition) have been critical about the scheme dubbing it as a poll gimmick.
Meanwhile, Women and Child Development minister Aditi Tatkare held a review meeting on Wednesday with officials from the concerned department to discuss the ongoing registration and scrutiny of forms submitted online and offline by women.
