Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan came up with the Ladli Behna Yojana on the eve of Bhaidooj on 15 November 2023. He assured that the names of the women who were left out in the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana will be added in the new Yojana.
BJP government was committed to increasing the Ladli Behna Yojana amount from Rs 1,250 to Rs 3,000. The leader said it is the way towards the roadmap of the state’s development. It’s all about making Madhya Pradesh a golden state, by giving monetary support to the women.
Talking about Ladli Laxmi Yojana, the leader assured that he along with his party BJP worked to change the lives of women in the state.
Will women benefit from Ladli Behna Yojana?
In 2022, the female population of Madhya Pradesh was 41,429 persons. The female population of Madhya Pradesh increased from 36,236 persons in 2013 to 41,429 persons in 2022 growing at an average annual rate of 1.50%.
Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of missing girls and women in the country. Between 2019 and 2021, nearly 2 lakh women and girls went missing from Madhya Pradesh, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data released by the Home Ministry in the parliament in July 2023.
No other state had such a large number of missing women and girls cases. In 2022, 32 children went missing every day in Madhya Pradesh, of which 24 were girls (75 percent), as per a Right to Information (RTI) report gathered by the Child Rights and You (CRY) NGO.
Data also shows that it is the tribal districts where missing women and children cases are most common. Most of the missing girls remain under-reported in Madhya Pradesh.
Due to poverty, many poor parents get their daughters married at a very young age. Most sell their daughters off to old grooms at very cheap prices. These young girls are susceptible to physical and sexual abuse.
Ladli Behna Yojana would help such young girls to get some monetary support for their living. They can in return use their money from Yojana to study or learn some skills. The yojana is a scheme that guarantees women’s advancement. But is the yojana beneficial for all women in Madhya Pradesh?
Conclusion
According to the previous data, most of the women in Madhya Pradesh were left out of the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana. There is no assurance that the new Ladli Behna Yojana will include all the left-out women.
Coming to the monetary benefits from the yojana, it is not sure that the money women receive through the yojana would be used for their benefits only. There are many circumstances that the money would be utilized by someone else like in the case of sarpanch pati.
Political party like Congress has said that the Ladli Behna Yojana is a simple political tactic of the BJP to lure the women’s votes in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023.
Looking at the heated battlefield of Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023, PM Modi has also applauded the participation of women in the elections of MP. He has asked the women power of Madhya Pradesh to step forward in the 2023 election to raise the flag of BJP. Just as women’s empowerment is a priority for the BJP, women have decided their minds to bring the BJP government again.
The assembly elections 2023 have changed the political dynamics in Madhya Pradesh with a special focus on women by announcing different yojanas like Ladli Behna Yojana, Scooty Yojana, etc. Before elections, government have also come up with 35% reservation for women in government jobs in Madhya Pradesh.
One of the five states scheduled to hold assembly elections in a single phase on 17 November 2023 is Madhya Pradesh. Votes will be tallied on 3 December. Legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies will be chosen by voters.
