If PM-Kisan, BJP’s belated attempt to counter NYAY, worked in its favour in the 2019 general elections, the focus was more on women with each party seeking to outdo the other. In Maharashtra, Mahayuti promised to increase the Ladki Behin allowance from Rs 1,500 a month to Rs 2,100, as JMM has in Jharkhand – from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500.
The schemes come at a hefty cost to the state exchequer. A Rs 2,100 monthly payout to “poor beneficiaries” will come with a monthly bill of over Rs 5,000 crore for Maharashtra, with higher pension and other benefits promised by the Mahayuti alliance expected to add to the burden.
For Jharkhand, the calculation is based on a tax bonanza flowing from the Supreme Court verdict allowing states to levy tax on minerals. In any case the cost is much lower. Against an annual outgo of over Rs 60,000 crore in Maharashtra, the enhanced payout of Rs 2,500 to around 48 lakh women beneficiaries will mean a spend of Rs 14,400 crore.
While BJP had frowned upon such doles as revadis, electoral compulsions to woo women voters and target groups such as farmers have played their part in getting the saffron party to shed some of its inhibitions. BJP’s focus for direct transfers is on poor and more vulnerable sections, instead of opening the floodgates for all sections.
In fact, there is a push that the Centre loosen its purse strings and enhance the payout under PM-Kisan to Rs 8,000 a year, if not more. The leadership in govt is, however, not in favour of this, favouring higher capital expenditure, which translates into asset creation, such as roads or power plants, and also generates demand for other sectors like steel and cement, helping create jobs in the process.