Mohan Yadav Flags Ladli Behna Cost
The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister called the flagship women’s welfare scheme a costly financial commitment while saying support for beneficiaries would continue.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has described the state government's flagship Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana as a costly financial commitment, saying he had not anticipated the scale of the burden when he became Chief Minister. He made the remark during a Bundeli Samagam at Ravindra Bhavan in Bhopal.
Yadav's comments came during a light-hearted exchange with Bundeli content creator Binnu Rani from Chhatarpur. She asked what the government planned to do for daughters after providing substantial support to women under the Ladli Behna scheme.
Responding to her, Yadav said the scheme had turned out to be a very costly affair and that becoming Chief Minister had brought a heavy financial responsibility. He nevertheless indicated that the government would continue its support for women.
The Ladli Behna scheme was launched in 2023 by the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, initially providing eligible women with ₹1,000 a month. The assistance was subsequently increased to ₹1,250 and then to ₹1,500 in November 2025.
At the current monthly payment of ₹1,500, the scheme is estimated to cost the Madhya Pradesh government around ₹22,680 crore annually. It has become one of the state's largest welfare programmes and a major component of the BJP government's outreach to women.
Government data cited by NDTV shows that the number of beneficiaries has declined since the scheme was launched. More than 6.25 lakh women have dropped out of the beneficiary pool, while fresh registrations for newly eligible women remain closed.
The beneficiary count was above 1.31 crore in October 2023 and had fallen to around 1.25 crore by January 2026. Women can leave the beneficiary list after turning 60, in case of death or when they no longer meet other eligibility conditions.
The government has previously promised that the monthly assistance could eventually rise to ₹3,000 over five years. However, the Chief Minister's latest remarks underline the fiscal challenge involved in maintaining and potentially expanding a scheme of this scale.