Ladli behna scheme lifts women's spending by Rs 9,302 each: SBI report

The beneficiaries of Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Scheme (LBS) increased their spending at merchant outlets by at least Rs 9,302 each vis à vis non-beneficiaries, according to a State Bank of India (SBI) research.
 

The SBI’s Economic Research Department studied the influence of LBS in the spending behaviour of its beneficiaries and any correlation in their voting pattern. Under LBS, the MP government deposits Rs 1,250 per month (initially Rs 1,000) in the Aadhaar-linked bank account of each eligible woman aged 21-60 years. The amount will be progressively hiked to Rs 3,000 per month. Currently, total eligible women are 12.5 million (nearly 30 per cent of MP’s women population). The government has distributed Rs 2,418 crore under the scheme.
 

According to the research, which looked at the data of at least 4 million of the LBS beneficiaries, around 94 per cent women covered are in the age group of above 25 years. The research said 87 per cent beneficiary accounts have less than Rs 7,500 average balance. Also, at least 1 per cent of them spend the money in other states.
 

Researchers also studied the spending patterns of the LBS beneficiaries with PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts and of those 25,000 PMJDY account holder women who are not LBS recipients. It found that LBS recipients spent Rs 13,034 each, while those not benefitting from the scheme spent Rs 3,732.
 

The study found that the spending by non-beneficiaries are primarily towards basic amenities, while the spending pattern of the beneficiaries “are more on consumerist avenues”. “The marginalised also have a dream and it should be the primary goal of every action-oriented policy to fulfil them at the earliest, poverty has no religion,” the research stated.

At  point-of-sale, or POS, terminals, Ladli Behnas with a PMJDY account is spending around Rs 3,352. Through ATMs, they have withdrawn around Rs 8,809 each. Through UPI, they have spent around Rs 41,915.

According to the research, the ruling BJP won all constituencies in the districts of Panna, Vidisha, and Damoh, which had the highest percentages of Ladli Behna beneficiaries. Of the top 10 districts of LBS rollout, the BJP won 50 per cent of the seats, except in Balaghat.