Ladli Behna scheme has turned out to be ‘very expensive’, says Madhya Pradesh CM

The Ladli Behna Yojana, under which eligible women are given a monthly allowance of ₹1,500, has turned out to be a “very expensive” affair, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said. Even though the remarks were made in a light-hearted manner, they have once again brought focus on the financial burnden of the BJP government’s flagship scheme.

Mr. Yadav was speaking on Sunday (October 4, 2026) at an event ‘Bundeli Samagam’, held at Bhopal’s Ravindra Bhavan, and made the remarks when a young content creator asked him about the government’s plans for young girls on the lines of the Ladli Behna scheme that caters to women above 18 years of age.  

“You don’t know, Ladli Behna itself has turned out to be very expensive. This is a very internal matter. Little did I know that you get such a heavy burden after becoming the Chief Minister,” Mr. Yadav told Bundeli content creator Binnu Rani. 

“But we said there is no trouble when it comes to our sisters. The journey began with ₹1,000. There were significant difficulties in the beginning, but now we are providing up to ₹1,500. Don’t worry. You are currently too young to qualify for Ladli Behna. Grow up a little more, and then we will give it to you,” the Chief Minister said, laughing. 

Last month, a petition was also filed before the Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court, seeking closure of the scheme while questioning its financial liability on the exchequer and accusing it to be an election-related freebie. The plea, filed by Sudha Dubey, a former councillor in Gwalior with the Congress, asked if any independent and comprehensive assessment has been conducted that shows that the scheme has provided women with lasting financial independence. 

Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana, a flagship scheme of the State’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, was launched by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March, 2023, with the amount of ₹1,000 per month. In October that year, the amount was increased to ₹1,250, a month before the Assembly polls. The BJP had also promised, in its poll manifesto, to increase the amount to ₹3,000 per month. 

The scheme, which benefited about 1.31 crore women in 2023, is credited to have helped the BJP counter the anti-incumbency in the Assembly elections and return to power with a massive majority. The scheme has seen one hike since the elections with Mr. Chouhan’s successor Mohan Yadav taking it to ₹1,500 from November, 2025. 

The budgetary allocation for the scheme for FY2026-27 was ₹23,882 crore.

The government has also faced criticism over a halt on fresh registrations since after the 2023 elections, with the beneficiary numbers having dropped to about 1.25 crore, as per the 40th instalment disbursed in September, 2026, when Mr. Yadav transferred ₹1,835 crore to beneficiaries’ bank accounts. 

Mr. Yadav had also said in September that more than ₹58,000 crore have been disbursed to the beneficiaries since the inception of the scheme.