Madhya Pradesh: Unmarried women above 21 years of age included in ‘Ladli Behna Yojna’

On September 22, Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan declared that unmarried women aged 21 and above will now be encompassed within the Ladli Behna Yojana, entitling them to receive a monthly aid of Rs. 1,250 as per the scheme.

Speaking at a rally in the Ranji area of Sanskardhani Jabalpur as part of the BJP’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’, a mass-contact initiative, Chouhan announced, “Unmarried women aged 21 and above will now be eligible for the benefits of the Ladli Behna Yojana.” He further mentioned that the assistance provided under this scheme, which currently aids approximately 1.32 crore women, will gradually be increased to Rs. 3,000 per month.

The government of Madhya Pradesh has recently augmented the monthly financial support from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,250, and has also declared a 35 percent reservation for these women in government positions. A total of Rs. 60,000 crore is earmarked for the implementation of this scheme over a span of five years.

“Many schemes like 50 percent reservation for sisters and daughters in civic elections and 35 percent reservation in police recruitment, Chief Minister Ladli Behena are proof of this,” he said.

Significantly, survivors of rape, sex workers, and unmarried women were initially excluded from the scheme due to the mandatory requirement of providing the husband’s name for eligibility. This led to concerns raised by various organisations dedicated to supporting vulnerable women and sex workers.

Members of the Bancchda and Bedia tribal communities in Neemuch, Morena, and Sagar expressed a strong desire to begin anew with government assistance. In response, district collectors have communicated this sentiment to the state government.

President of the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission, Manohar Mamtani, also urged the state government to encompass unmarried women from the Banchhada, Bedia, and Sansi communities (the latter being a tribe without official documentation, particularly identity proof) within the scheme.

Deepali Rastogi, Principal Secretary of the Women and Child Development Department, stated, “The proposal to include unmarried women in the scheme had been under deliberation for an extended period, and it has finally been announced.”

During a rally in Jabalpur West, Chouhan announced that women are set to receive 33 percent reservation in both the Lok Sabha and state assembly, following the passage of the women’s reservation bill in Parliament. He highlighted that the state already has a 33 percent reservation for women in local bodies.

Discussing the groundbreaking decision to offer medical and engineering education in Hindi, he noted that Class 12 exams were conducted simultaneously in both private and government schools. It was observed that students from private schools tended to have higher success rates in the NEET exam.

In order to level the playing field for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and those attending government schools, Chouhan made the decision to compile two separate merit lists for NEET. The first list would comprise students from private schools, while the second would consist of government school students. This move aims to ensure that even economically disadvantaged students have an equal opportunity to pursue a career in medicine.