The financial aid given per month to women under the Madhya Pradesh government's 'Ladli Behna Yojana' launched in March this year will be increased from the current Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 with periodic hikes of Rs 250, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.
While he did not reveal a deadline for these hikes, the CM announced he would give a "gift" to women on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan but did not elaborate. He was speaking after transferring a cumulative amount of Rs 1,209 crore to 1.25 crore women who are eligible for assistance under Ladli Behna Yojana.
"With hikes of Rs 250, the monthly aid to women will be increased to Rs 3000 under Ladli Behna Yojana. Besides, I will give you something on Rakshabandhan," the CM said.
Assembly polls are to be held in the state at the end of the year. The number of women voters in Madhya Pradesh is 2,60,23,733, and they outnumber men in at least 18 of the 230 Assembly segments. These include tribal-dominated Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori, Alirajpur and Jhabua districts.
The number of new women voters has gone up by 2.79 per cent, while it is 2.30 per cent for male voters, officials said, adding that of the 13.39 lakh new voters, 7.07 lakh are women.
