Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that a social revolution is going on in the state to make the lives of women better. The development of the state and the welfare of the people is the aim of his life.

“Ladli Bahna Yojana is a social revolution. It will bring respect in the life of sisters and boost their self-confidence. Under this yojana, Rs 1000 will be transferred every month into the accounts of the beneficiaries. Women in the age group of 23 to 60 years of families, whose annual income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh, own land less than 5 acres and do not have a four-wheeler will get the benefit of this scheme. Every eligible sister will get the benefit of the scheme,” CM Chouhan said. He made the remark while addressing a Ladli Bahna Sammelan at Beohari in Shahdol district on Wednesday.

He further said, “Since childhood I have been noticing that complete justice was not being meted to daughters. They did not get equal respect as sons in home, family and society. I decided that I will fight for the respect of daughters. I initiated the Ladli Laxmi Yojana as soon as I became the Chief Minister. After this, work for the welfare of women went on through various schemes like Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah / Nikah, Gaon Ki Beti and Pratibha Kiran.”

Besides, 50 per cent reservation has been given to women in panchayats and urban bodies in the state. This has helped to empower them in the political field. 30 per cent reservation is given to women in police recruitment. Moral control has been imposed on drugs in the state. Liquor vends have been closed, the CM added.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister also distributed a bonus worth Rs 51 crore to Tendu Patta collectors. He laid the foundation stone of The Bhanni Major Irrigation Project worth Rs 327.51 crore and released a book “Safal-Sabal Shahdol” of the district administration.
Chouhan also announced to make Beohari a mini smart city, to open a college in Ban Sagar from this session, apart from ring road and bridge construction.

Talking about the PESA Act, CM Chouhan said that after its implementation, the tribal people got the rights of water, forest and land in the tribal areas. Now tendu patta collectors could pluck patta themselves and sell them. They could operate stone and ballast quarries in their area. Minor disputes would be settled by the village peace and dispute resolution committee. Now no one could grab their land.

Targeting the Congress government, the CM said, “The previous government did not fulfil the loan waiver promise, due to which lakhs of farmers became defaulters. Our government is giving crop loans to all those farmers at zero per cent interest by paying the amount of interest. Water is being supplied by laying pipelines even in uneven fields of the farmers.”

He added that to provide better education than private schools, CM Rise Schools were opened in the state, which were equipped with all facilities like library, laboratory, playground etc. Each CM Rise school was built at a cost of about Rs 35 crores and buses were arranged to bring students up to 25 km away.