As Bihar will get able to vote on 6 and 11 November, each the Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Mahagathbandhan have introduced women-centric schemes to woo ladies voters who account for a serious chunk of the voters.

The NDA, which is in energy in Bihar with Nitish Kumar as chief minister, transferred Rs 10,000 every to 21 lakh ladies below the Jeevika Didi scheme simply weeks forward of the elections, and has pledged to empower one crore ladies Lakhpati Didis by offering monetary help of as much as Rs 2 lakh to ladies via the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana.

On the identical time, the Mahagathbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress has promised Rs 2,500 per thirty days to ladies below the Mai Behan Maan Yojana, apart from greater advantages for Jeevika Didis.

Jyoti Mishra, political analyst and assistant professor at Amity College, Mohali, mentioned that not simply Haryana, however all states have been vying to woo ladies, who account for nearly half the nation’s complete inhabitants.

“The issue is that the majority of those schemes are introduced forward of elections with out correct evaluation of the monetary implications,” Mishra instructed ThePrint. “And with regards to their implementation, the states give you exclusion clauses, as Haryana has performed in abundance, to restrict the variety of beneficiaries. Or they minimize down their finances for the scheme later, as Maharashtra did for the second monetary yr of its scheme.”

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Tweaks in eligibility standards

Money incentive schemes for ladies seem to have performed a key position in propelling the BJP and different events to victory in state elections.

Madhya Pradesh, below former chief minister Shivraj Chouhan, was among the many first states to launch a money switch scheme for ladies. The Ladli Behna Yojana, which had initially promised Rs 1,250 a month to ladies from households incomes lower than Rs 2.5 lakh a yr, is alleged to have performed an important position in serving to the BJP return to energy in 2023.

The NDA adopted the same playbook and introduced the Ladki Bahin scheme to pave the best way for its return to energy with an even bigger mandate in Maharashtra.

Nevertheless, critics say the expertise of states, equivalent to Maharashtra and Karnataka—below the Congress authorities—reveals that the guarantees below women-focused schemes haven’t been totally fulfilled.

In Maharashtra, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, or direct profit switch scheme, helped the Mahayuti coalition win a historic mandate within the meeting elections final November.

However after the polls, the Mahayuti authorities—comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Celebration (Ajit Pawar)—tightened scrutiny of the scheme and mentioned that many ladies who didn’t meet the eligibility standards had been on the checklist.

Because of this, many ladies had been dropped from the checklist of beneficiaries, and the state finances allocation for the programme was lowered from Rs 46,000 crore to Rs 36,000 crore in 2025 as a result of fiscal pressures, resulting in criticism of the federal government.

In Karnataka, too, the Congress had supplied many women-focused welfare schemes as a part of its “5 ensures” earlier than the 2023 meeting elections.

Nevertheless, since then, the state authorities has eliminated over 2 lakh ineligible beneficiaries from its flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme, which gives Rs 2,000 a month to ladies heads of households.  The rationale: both they or their husbands had been income-tax or GST payees.

The Karnataka authorities’s choice to roll out free rides for ladies on state-run buses additionally turned controversial due to the fee to the exchequer and issues that it was being prolonged to ladies who didn’t want monetary help. Regardless of the controversy, the scheme hasn’t been scrapped.

In Delhi, too, earlier than the February 2025 meeting election, the BJP had promised to supply month-to-month monetary help of Rs 2,500 to ladies if voted to energy. The cupboard authorised the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana on 8 March, however it’s but to be carried out.

‘Haryana govt excluding many’

Whereas critics have raised issues over the variety of ladies who’ve benefitted from the money switch scheme, the Haryana authorities says the initiative has been profitable.

Chief Minister Saini instructed media individuals Saturday that by midnight of 31 October, 6,97,697 ladies had registered for the Lado Lakshmi Scheme on the particular cell app launched by the federal government. Of those, 6,51,529 had been married, whereas 46,168 had been single.

“So enormous was the response that in 24 hours, beginning midnight of 30 October to midnight of 31 October, 37,737 ladies registered within the app,” the CM mentioned.

He added that every one ladies over the age of 23 with a household revenue of lower than Rs 1 lakh each year may apply on the Lado Lakshmi Yojana app, which, he mentioned, is a totally clear methodology of utility. “Inside 24-48 hours, the verification is accomplished on the authorities stage, and a message is shipped to the beneficiary demanding a stay image for the e-KYC. The method of e-KYC takes just a few seconds solely.”

He additional mentioned that whereas funds have been transferred to three,46,983 ladies, one other 1,75,179 would get the cash on finishing the e-KYC course of.

However not everybody was impressed.

AIDWA’s Sangwan mentioned the profit was grossly inadequate in comparison with the preliminary promise. “They (the BJP) bought votes of ladies from Haryana, promising them Rs 2,100 each month by saying the Lado Lakshmi Yojana,” she mentioned. “However after they modified the factors, they got here up with situations that ensured that only a few ladies would turn into eligible below the scheme. Simply 5.22 lakh ladies getting the profit out of 95 lakh grownup ladies of the state is a fraction of the whole—lower than 4 p.c.”

Sangwan added that ladies have been approaching her nearly daily, saying the documentation required for the Lado Lakshmi App is so cumbersome that it’s troublesome for ladies to finish the method.

“As an example, there’s a situation that the ladies will need to have to be dwelling in Haryana for a minimum of 15 years. It’s unusual and shocking that the Haryana authorities comes out with such genius concepts to exclude folks from getting the advantages,” she remarked. “Even for the aim of citizenship, dwelling at a spot for 10 years makes one certified, however for Lado Lakshmi, they want 15 years.”

She alleged that the BJP has been making pre-poll guarantees in states, however with regards to implementation, it comes out with clauses that exclude a big majority of beneficiaries. The guarantees to ladies in poll-bound Bihar can be being considered with scepticism due to this, she added.

About Lado Lakshmi Yojana

Forward of the 2024 meeting elections in Haryana, the BJP authorities led by Saini had promised Rs 2,100 per thirty days to all Haryana ladies below the scheme in its Sankalp Patra (election manifesto).

In line with knowledge on the Haryana Chief Electoral Officer’s web site, 2.03 crore voters had been registered within the state, as of 12 September final yr. Of those, 95,77,926 had been ladies, of which, 19,06,483 had been above the age of 60.

Contemplating that ladies above the age of 60, who’re getting an old-age pension, wouldn’t be entitled to the extra profit, it was estimated that 76,71,443 ladies can be getting advantages below the Lado Lakshmi Yojana.

Nevertheless, when the state authorities notified the scheme on 28 August this yr, it mentioned that solely ladies above 23 and from households with a verified yearly revenue not exceeding Rs 1 lakh per yr can be eligible to use.

The notification additionally mandated {that a} girl—or her husband, in case of marriage into Haryana from a distinct state—needed to be a resident of Haryana, and will need to have lived within the state for at least 15 years earlier than the date of utility.

Ladies who’ve been receiving any monetary help below any social safety schemes, such because the Previous Age Samman Allowance Scheme, and Monetary Help to Widows and Destitute Ladies Guidelines, had been additionally excluded.

(Edited by Sugita Katyal)

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