Indore civic body staff not getting salaries due to Ladli Behna Yojana, says Mayor

Indore Mayor and BJP leader Pushyamitra Bhargava has said that the Madhya Pradesh government’s flagship Ladli Behna Yojana, an initiative launched to improve the economic well-being of women, has resulted in municipal corporation officials not getting their salaries for the past six months.

Under the Ladli Behna Yojana, women currently get monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,250. The populist scheme is believed to have played a huge role in the BJP’s massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, as women overwhelmingly voted for the party.

“For the past six months, we have not been getting our salaries due to the Ladli Behna Yojana,” Bhargava said during a Municipal Corporation meeting.

He said the Indore Municipal Corporation received Rs 142 crore less than the amount of octroi compensation. He said the corporation received Rs 1,653 crore in the form of various grants for the state.

The mayor said the municipal corporation had a debt of Rs 850 crore even as he vowed to make the body financially self-reliant by the end of his tenure. Â

Reacting to the Indore Mayor’s remarks, the Congress took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The Indore Mayor has accepted that employees are not getting their salaries due to Ladli Behna Yojana. Mr Modi, you see nothing beyond the vote,” the party tweeted in Hindi.

Indore civic body staff not getting salaries due to Ladli Behna Yojana, says Mayor

The Ladli Behna Yojana, launched by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, started with the transfer of Rs 1,000 to women from economically weaker sections of society. Just before the Assembly polls, the BJP government raised the amount to Rs 1,250.

The money is usually transferred on the 10th day of every month. There are as many as 1.30 crore beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna Yojana, nearly half of the total 2.71 crore women voters in Madhya Pradesh.