MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde made a stunning claim in the state assembly on Tuesday that Prime Minister Modi had halted the war in Ukraine for two hours to evacuate Indian students.
“When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out and students were left stranded, their parents appealed to Prime Minister Modi. He halted the war for two hours to evacuate the students,” said Shinde.There was a short silence as the Opposition was left speechless by this claim.
During his speech in the assembly, Shinde also said that the government had made changes in the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana for underprivileged women in order to make the application process easier.
Initially, the state will identify beneficiaries on the basis of below poverty line (BPL) ration cards, he said. “There are concerns about long queues of applicants for the scheme. We do not want to inconvenience our sisters. We will initially identify beneficiaries on the basis of BPL cards,” he said.
The scheme was supposed to be rolled out on July 1. However, Shinde said that if the application took time, the Rs 1500 stipend would be provided retrospectively. “If the application is cleared in August, the beneficiary will receive the stipend till retrospectively from July,” he said.
The initial government resolution for the scheme said the beneficiaries would be between the ages of 21 to 60. Shinde said the age limit would be raised to 65 years. He also said that the condition those with a family land holding of 5 acres would be excluded, had been dropped.
The Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana is patterned on the Madhya Pradesh government’s Ladli Behna Yojana. It provides a stipend of Rs 1500 a month for married, divorced, widowed, deserted and destitute women whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh and who are domiciled in the state. If a member of their family pays income tax or has a government job, they will be excluded from the scheme.
In Madhya Pradesh, the scheme was considered a game-changer which resulted in the BJP returning to power in the state. It has been introduced in the Mahayuti government’s last budget before the state assembly polls in October. The state budget stated that the scheme would cost the state Rs 46,000 crores.
“When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out and students were left stranded, their parents appealed to Prime Minister Modi. He halted the war for two hours to evacuate the students,” said Shinde.There was a short silence as the Opposition was left speechless by this claim.
During his speech in the assembly, Shinde also said that the government had made changes in the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana for underprivileged women in order to make the application process easier.
Initially, the state will identify beneficiaries on the basis of below poverty line (BPL) ration cards, he said. “There are concerns about long queues of applicants for the scheme. We do not want to inconvenience our sisters. We will initially identify beneficiaries on the basis of BPL cards,” he said.
The scheme was supposed to be rolled out on July 1. However, Shinde said that if the application took time, the Rs 1500 stipend would be provided retrospectively. “If the application is cleared in August, the beneficiary will receive the stipend till retrospectively from July,” he said.
The initial government resolution for the scheme said the beneficiaries would be between the ages of 21 to 60. Shinde said the age limit would be raised to 65 years. He also said that the condition those with a family land holding of 5 acres would be excluded, had been dropped.
The Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana is patterned on the Madhya Pradesh government’s Ladli Behna Yojana. It provides a stipend of Rs 1500 a month for married, divorced, widowed, deserted and destitute women whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh and who are domiciled in the state. If a member of their family pays income tax or has a government job, they will be excluded from the scheme.
In Madhya Pradesh, the scheme was considered a game-changer which resulted in the BJP returning to power in the state. It has been introduced in the Mahayuti government’s last budget before the state assembly polls in October. The state budget stated that the scheme would cost the state Rs 46,000 crores.
