Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Scheme to Come in ‘New Avatar’
This will truly empower them financially and make them self-reliant”, state women and child development minister Nirmala Bhuria said.
Bhopal: The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has initiated the process to revise its flagship Ladli Behna scheme with an objective to empower the women financially and make them self-reliant.
The re-modelled scheme, tipped to be introduced on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on March eight, 2026, will have an additional provision of giving option to the beneficiaries to avail a lump sum amount ranging from Rs 18,000 to Rs 50,000 in advance for one year or three years respectively, instead of the existing monthly incentive of Rs 1,500 per month.
“We have initiated the step to revise the Ladli Behna scheme to add the optional provision of providing a lump sum amount to the beneficiaries to start their business. This will truly empower them financially and make them self-reliant”, state women and child development minister Nirmala Bhuria said.
A move is also underway to add more women as beneficiaries in the revised scheme, a senior officer of the women and child development department said on Friday.
Around 1.30 crore women in Madhya Pradesh have been enlisted as beneficiaries under the scheme.
The monthly incentive, provided under the scheme, has been increased from Rs 1,250 to Rs 1,500 last month, entailing an expenditure of around Rs 36,700 crore for the state exchequer annually.
The revised scheme will have two payment modules- the existing monthly incentive and the lumpsum amount, the officer said.
A committee of experts headed by the minister will be constituted to prepare a draft after a thorough review of the scheme, official sources said.
The draft proposals will be placed before chief minister Mohan Yadav for final nod, sources said.
The Ladli Behna scheme was introduced by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan barely six months before the November 2023 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.
The scheme initially provided a monthly incentive of Rs 1,000 initially, which was revised to Rs 1,250 a few days before the enforcement of model code of conduct in the last Assembly polls.
The scheme had proved to be a gamechanger for ruling BJP in the Assembly polls helping it return to power in the state with a massive mandate by securing 163 of 230 seats.
