Ladli Behna scheme a 'heavy burden': Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav

The Ladli Behna scheme, launched in 2023 with a monthly payout of ₹1,000, now provides ₹1,500 to eligible women and is estimated to cost the Madhya Pradesh government ₹22,680 crore annually

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has described the state government’s flagship Ladli Behna scheme as a “very costly affair”, saying he had not anticipated the financial burden it would place on the state exchequer.

 

CM Yadav made the remarks during a light-hearted interaction with Bundeli influencer and content creator Binnu Rani at a Bundeli Samagam held at Ravindra Bhavan in Bhopal, NDTV reported.

 

Rani, who is from Chhatarpur, asked the Chief Minister what the government planned to do for the “Binnus”, or daughters, after providing financial assistance to their “Jijjis”, or sisters.

 

“You have no idea the Ladli Behna scheme turned out to be a very costly affair. Little did I know that becoming Chief Minister would bring such a heavy financial burden,” Yadav said, according to NDTV.

 

 

He said the scheme had started with a monthly assistance of ₹1,000 and was later increased to ₹1,500. Responding to Rani, he added that she was currently too young to qualify for the scheme and would have to wait until she became eligible.

How high is the burden on the exchequer?

At the current monthly assistance of ₹1,500, the Ladli Behna scheme is estimated to cost the Madhya Pradesh government around ₹22,680 crore a year.

 

At the time of the scheme’s launch, the government had received more than 13.1 million applications. Following scrutiny and objections, more than 218,000 names were removed, leaving around 12.9 million eligible beneficiaries.

 

For the first instalment, 1,18,22,623 women received payments. Of these, 1,11,70,835 women received ₹1,000 each, while 6,51,788 women who were already receiving social security pensions received the differential amount.

 

The first transfer cost the state government ₹1,143.15 crore.

How does the Ladli Behna scheme work?

The Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana was announced by the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on January 28, 2023, ahead of the state Assembly elections. It was formally launched on March 5, 2023, with the first installment transferred in June that year.

 

The scheme initially provided eligible women with ₹1,000 a month. The assistance was later raised to ₹1,250 and, in November 2025, to ₹1,500.

 

The BJP had also promised during the 2023 Assembly election campaign that the monthly assistance would eventually be increased to ₹3,000 over five years.

 

However, while the monthly payment has risen, the number of beneficiaries has declined. Government data shows that more than 625,000 women have dropped out of the beneficiary pool since the scheme was introduced, while fresh registrations remain closed.

 

More than 13.1 million women were covered by the scheme in October 2023. The number of eligible beneficiaries fell to around 12.5 million by January 2026 and declined further by September 1.

 

Women are removed from the beneficiary list after turning 60, in the event of death, or if they no longer meet other eligibility criteria. However, with no corresponding process to add newly eligible women, the number of beneficiaries has continued to fall.

 

The issue has also come up in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar had sought information on when registrations would reopen for women who have since become eligible. Women and Child Development Minister Nirmala Bhuria said no timeframe could be given.