MP: No Welfare Scheme Will Be Withdrawn, Monthly Incentive Given to Women Under ‘Ladli Behna Programme’ Unlikely to Be Increased

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jagdish Devda on Monday announced that no welfare schemes being undertaken by the state government would be withdrawn.

“The ongoing schemes will be continued in the forthcoming budget, which will be all-inclusive”, Mr Devda told reporters on the sidelines of the commencement of the budget session of the state assembly on Monday.

He said that the annual budget for the state would be presented in the house on July three.

“Our focus will be on capital expenditure. All the schemes will be continued as earlier”, he added.

Sources said that the state government was unlikely to increase the monthly incentive given to the beneficiaries of the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme, that had proved game changer for the ruling BJP in the 2023 assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, as promised by the former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan while launching the scheme in 2023.

Mr Chouhan had then promised to hike the incentive from Rs 1,250 to Rs 3,000 per month to the beneficiaries under the scheme in a phased manner.

Sources disclosed to this newspaper that there was no increase in the allocation for the scheme in the proposed annual budget which indicated that the incentive given under the scheme may not be hiked.

An allocation of Rs 18,000 crore has been made under the scheme in the annual budget for 2024-25, scheduled to be presented in the house on Wednesday, sources said.

Sources said that the annual budget of the state for 2024-25 may be pegged at Rs 3.65 lakh crore, an increase by around Rs 50,000 crore over the 2023-24 budget.