MUMBAI: The cash-strapped government on Thursday sanctioned a sum of Rs 199.8 crores for a media plan to publicise its flagship Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana which will provide a stipend of Rs 1500 per month for underprivileged women.
It has also sanctioned a sum of Rs 4.7 crores for a media plan to publicise the Mukhymantri Annapurna Yojana which provides three free gas cylinders annually for under-privileged women.
Both schemes were announced in the last budget of the poll-bound state in June.
This new publicity spend comes just two weeks after the government cleared a sum of Rs 270 crores for a publicity campaign for its welfare schemes. Both Ladki Bahin and the Annapurna Yojana were already on the list of welfare schemes to be publicised through the campaign.
Earlier this month, the state sanctioned Rs 300 crore to appoint yojana-doots to publicise its welfare schemes. It also cleared a sum of Rs 100 crore for publicity campaigns for the state housing department and Rs 4 crore for the agriculture department.
This means that in the last two weeks alone, the Mahayuti government has sanctioned a steep Rs 878.5 crores to publicise its schemes ahead of the polls.
Significantly, the state faces a debt projection of Rs 7.8 lakh crores for 2024-25. It had announced welfare schemes worth Rs 96,000 crores in its pre-election budget in June.
The Opposition has lashed out at the government. “Just as a few women began receiving their first Ladki Bahin stipend, the Mahayuti government had loaded the state treasury with a bill of Rs 199.8 crores to publicise itself,” said Congress leader Vijay Wadditiwar.
“The government had cleared Rs 270 crores to publicise its welfare schemes. Now a sum of Rs 199.8 crores will be spent on the Ladki Bahin scheme alone,” he said.
It has also sanctioned a sum of Rs 4.7 crores for a media plan to publicise the Mukhymantri Annapurna Yojana which provides three free gas cylinders annually for under-privileged women.
Both schemes were announced in the last budget of the poll-bound state in June.
This new publicity spend comes just two weeks after the government cleared a sum of Rs 270 crores for a publicity campaign for its welfare schemes. Both Ladki Bahin and the Annapurna Yojana were already on the list of welfare schemes to be publicised through the campaign.
Earlier this month, the state sanctioned Rs 300 crore to appoint yojana-doots to publicise its welfare schemes. It also cleared a sum of Rs 100 crore for publicity campaigns for the state housing department and Rs 4 crore for the agriculture department.
This means that in the last two weeks alone, the Mahayuti government has sanctioned a steep Rs 878.5 crores to publicise its schemes ahead of the polls.
Significantly, the state faces a debt projection of Rs 7.8 lakh crores for 2024-25. It had announced welfare schemes worth Rs 96,000 crores in its pre-election budget in June.
The Opposition has lashed out at the government. “Just as a few women began receiving their first Ladki Bahin stipend, the Mahayuti government had loaded the state treasury with a bill of Rs 199.8 crores to publicise itself,” said Congress leader Vijay Wadditiwar.
“The government had cleared Rs 270 crores to publicise its welfare schemes. Now a sum of Rs 199.8 crores will be spent on the Ladki Bahin scheme alone,” he said.
Source Agencies
