As parties go big on women-centric schemes to woo voters, here is a status check

The BJP and Congress have both given special importance to women in their poll manifestos for the October 5 Assembly elections in Haryana. While the Congress has promised to give a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 to every woman aged between 18 and 60 years if it comes to power in the state, the BJP has also vowed to provide Rs 2,100 per month to women under the Lado Lakshmi Yojana.
In recent years, to bring women voters on their side, political parties had announced similar promises.
Here is a status check of where the women-centric schemes have been implemented and where they have been delayed.
IMPLEMENTED
Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana – Maharashtra
On August 17, the Eknath Shinde-led government introduced this scheme, targeting one crore women aged 21 to 65 with an annual family income below Rs 2.5 lakh. Under the scheme, eligible women will receive Rs 1,500 per month.
Mahatari Vandan Yojana – Chhattisgarh
In February, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai announced this monthly cash assistance scheme for married women. It came to force on March 1. Under this, eligible beneficiaries receive Rs 12,000 per year, transferred to their bank accounts in monthly instalments of Rs 1,000.
Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana – Madhya Pradesh
Introduced by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan before the 2023 Assembly polls, the scheme providesRs 1,000 per month to women whose household income is Rs 2.5 lakh. Chouhan’s successor, Mohan Yadav, raised the monthly disbursal to Rs 1,250 after the BJP was re-elected and pledged to gradually increase it to Rs 3,000.
Lakshmir Bhandar scheme – West Bengal
In February 2021, while running for re-election, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee introduced the Lakshmir Bhandar programme to give financial assistance to women aged 25 to 60. Under the scheme, women belonging to SC/ST communities receive Rs 1,200 monthly, while women from other categories receive Rs 1,000 monthly.
Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana – Jharkhand
Under this scheme, women between ages 21 and 50 years, with a family income of Rs 3 lakh annually, will receive Rs 1,000 on the 15th of every month via DBT. The scheme was intended to help 48 lakh women in the state.
Gruha Lakshmi scheme – Karnataka
On July 19, 2023, the Siddaramiah-led Congress government in Karnataka launched the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to provide Rs 2,000 per month to women head of families.
Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam – Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin launched the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam on September 15, 2023. This scheme aims to empower women above the age of 21 who are identified as the heads of their households by providing them with a monthly ‘right to basic income’ of Rs 1,000 initially, which has later been augmented to Rs 1,200.
To be eligible for this scheme, women-led households should not have a family income exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh per year, possess less than five acres of wetland or less than ten acres of dryland, and consume less than 3,600 units of electricity annually for domestic purposes.
Himachal Pradesh
On March 4, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that the Congress-led state government will give Rs 1,500 per month to women in the age group of 18 to 60 years from the next financial year.
DELAYED
Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Rashi – Delhi
On March 5, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi announced the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Rashi’ in her maiden Budget speech, under which women above 18 years would receive a monthly cash transfer of Rs 1,000.
In July, Women and Child Development Minister Kailash Gahlot instructed his department to draft a Cabinet note for the implementation of the scheme.
Once the Cabinet note receives departmental approval, it will be presented to the Cabinet and subsequently sent to the Lieutenant Governor for final consent.
Punjab
The AAP-led government in Punjab had promised to give a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000 to every adult woman in the state if voted to power in the 2022 Assembly polls. However, the state government is yet to implement the scheme.