Jharkhand Cabinet lowers age limit for Maiyan Yojna scheme

The Hemant Soren cabinet approved a proposal reducing the minimum age limit for the Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojna (MMSY) from 21 to 18 on Friday, officials said.

MMSY is the flagship scheme of the JMM-Congress-RJD government and is being considered a game-changer by the ruling front for the upcoming assembly elections, reportedly to be held in November.

Briefing about the decisions, cabinet secretary Vandana Dadel said the amendment in the age criteria would cover around 800,000 additional women under the scheme.

“The proposal of the women and child welfare department was cleared by the cabinet. Now all women above 18 would be eligible for the scheme. Currently, 4.8 million women are covered under the scheme. With the reduction in the age limit to 18, 800,000 more women would be covered,” said Dadel.

The MMSY would cost ₹6,720 crore per annum. With the addition of 800,000 women, the annual cost would be ₹560 crore more. “The extra funds would be covered by the contingency fund of the state,” said Dadel.

Chief minister Hemant Soren formally launched the MMSY on August 3, under which beneficiary women would receive ₹1,000 through direct benefit transfer every month. Around 4.8 million women in the state are expected to benefit from the scheme, described by the think tanks of the ruling alliance as a game-changer ahead of the assembly elections.

The state government is banking heavily on the scheme, and it has been rolled out in a mission mode, with applications from 4.5 million women already approved.

Meanwhile, the opposition has been targeting the Hemant government over the scheme, saying the scheme has been launched for electoral gains and would be stopped after the polls.

A public interest litigation (PIL) has also been filed in the Jharkhand high court by an individual from the Gumla district, seeking a stay on the scheme, alleging that public money is being misused by the state. The PIL is yet to be listed for hearing.