Ladki Bahin Yojana, Ladka Bhau Yojana, Shiv Bhojan Thali, Anandacha Shidha to continue: Maharashtra government

Mumbai: Amid reports that populist schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana, Ladka Bhau Yojana, Shiv Bhojan Thali are draining the state exchequer, the MahaYuti-NDA government has asserted that the schemes would continue and be strengthened in the days to come.

The assertion comes days before the commencement of the Budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature.

The new MahaYuti-NDA dispensation led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would have to engage in a balancing act to ensure that the schemes continue to run.

Fadnavis and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, who is also the finance and planning minister, have held a series of pre-budget meetings to give final touches to the first budget of the new government.

The Ladki Bahin Yojana was launched in the run-up to the Vidhan Sabha polls when Shinde was the chief minister.

After the drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Ladki Bahin Yojana has helped the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance in the Assembly elections.

Amid reports of strain on the exchequer and charges from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi that populist schemes would be shut, Shinde said that such a thing would never happen.

“Government schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana and Ladka Bhau Yojana will continue without any interruption,” Shinde said in Nanded.

“Those who attempted to block your Rs 1,500 assistance weren’t just defeated—they were rejected outright by the people. Our sisters gave them a strong reply through their votes,” said Shinde.

The statement of Shinde comes in the wake of the scrutiny of the beneficiaries of the scheme. “There is no question of closing any running scheme,” school education minister Dada Bhuse said.

On the scrutiny, he said that it is a process and over five lakh beneficiaries have voluntarily come out of the scheme.

In a related development, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal met Fadnavis and impressed upon him not to close the Shiv Bhojan Thali scheme, in which meals are provided at subsidised rates of Rs 10.

“No scheme is being closed…in fact, these are being strengthened,” said state industries minister Uday Samant.

The Shiv Bhojan Thali scheme was launched when Bhujbal was the food, civil supplies, and consumer protection minister in the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and it has helped lakhs of people during the Covid-19 pandemic.