MP Govt Mulls Recasting its Flagship Ladli Behna Scheme With Additional Benefits

-Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government is seriously considering revamping the flagship Ladli Behna scheme by providing additional benefits to beneficiaries and renaming it, officials said on Tuesday.

This will be the second major scheme launched during the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and which, if realised, will be rebranded by the Mohan Yadav regime.

Sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) revealed to this newspaper that the state government has in the process initiated the move to rename the Ladli Behna scheme as Devi Subhadra Yojana after the name of Lord Balbhadra, the sister and brother of Lord Jagannath, who is seen as an avatar of Lord Krishna.

Sources said the renaming of the scheme may be announced soon by chief minister Mohan Yadav.

The populist scheme, which provides a monthly incentive of Rs 1,000, was first launched in March 2023, just six months ahead of the November 2023 Assembly elections in the state, giving the ruling BJP rich gains in the polls and subsequently helping it retain power in Madhya Pradesh by bagging 163 out of 230 seats in the state Assembly.

The incentive was later revised to Rs 1,250 and will be revised upward again to Rs 1,500 in the current month’s installment.

The scheme, which has registered 1.26 crore women as beneficiaries, will cost the state exchequer around Rs 22,450 crore annually at the revised incentive rate.

The state government is also considering offering health insurance benefits for beneficiaries of the scheme, sources said.

Sources said beneficiaries will have to pay a nominal premium to get health insurance coverage, while in the revised scheme, the state government will bear the major share of the premium.

Mr. Yadav had earlier renamed CM Rise School, modern schools with smart classrooms, started by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

CM Rise School has now been renamed Sandeepani School after the name of the Ashram in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh where Lord Krishna is believed to have done his education.