The Maharashtra government officially launched the “Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin” scheme on Saturday, which will provide eligible women with a monthly stipend. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde indicated that if the ruling Mahayuti alliance is re-elected, the stipend could rise from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000.
Over one crore women will be benefitted from the scheme, and the launch of the scheme today coincided with the Rakshabandhan celebrations starting Monday.
Modelled after Madhya Pradesh’s “Ladli Behna Yojana,” the new initiative offers Rs 1,500 monthly to married, divorced, and destitute women aged 21-60, with a family income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh per year.
At the launch event, held at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Shinde said, “If you support us, we can increase the stipend from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. With your continued support, we can raise it to over Rs 3,000. The opposition is criticising this scheme, but our alliance stands with you.”
The scheme was inaugurated by Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, at the grand event attended by many women.
In the midst of a tough assembly election battle against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP coalition introduced the scheme following a debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Shinde, who assumed office with BJP support in July 2022, also highlighted other welfare initiatives launched by the Mahayuti government, including a job training and stipend scheme for young men, tentatively called “Ladka Bhau Yojana,” as part of the ‘Mukhya Mantri Yuva Karya-Prashikshan Yojana.’ This program aims to tackle unemployment by providing on-the-job training with a monthly stipend.
Opposition parties, including the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), have accused the state government of attempting to secure votes through the scheme and criticised the Rs 1,500 monthly allocation as “inadequate”.