Allow Samman Nidhi Yojana to continue during elections: CPM

Shimla, March 19

The CPM State Committee today said that the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana, under which Rs 1,500 per month would be provided to women in the state, be allowed to continue during the Lok Sabha elections.

CPM leader Sanjay Chauhan, addressing mediapersons here, said that the government should be allowed to continue with the scheme during the elections, as it was already implemented in Lahaul and Spiti district a few months ago. “The women of Lahaul and Spiti district were already receiving Rs 1,500 before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.

He said that a CPM delegation submitted a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manish Garg in this regard. “The notification for the implementation of the scheme was issued before the Lok Sabha elections were announced and the procedure for filling forms was also going on earlier. This is in no way a violation of the model code of conduct,” he added.

Chauhan termed the BJP’s demand that the implementation of the scheme be put on hold as ridiculous and anti-women. He said that the BJP was not able to accept the economic independence of women.

“When this scheme was not implemented, the BJP was daily targeting the state government saying that it was not fulfilling the guarantee of providing Rs 1,500 per month to women but now when this scheme has been implemented, the party is opposing it,” he added.

He said that by opposing the scheme on the pretext of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s real ideology as well as its political tactic of using women’s uplift and empowerment for political gains had been exposed.

He added, “In Himachal Pradesh, women are mainly employed in the agricultural sector, which is going through a deep crisis. Besides, women get scanty employment under MGNREGA. Their participation in the service sector is also very low while the employment of women in industries is negligible. More than 50 per cent of women in the state are suffering from anemia.”

Chauhan said that the financial and social conditions of many women in the state were very weak therefore, the Rs 1,500 grant meant a lot to them. It would be a big injustice to them if they were deprived of the benefit, he added.

BJP indulged in ‘doublespeak’

When the Rs 1,500 per month scheme was not implemented, the BJP daily targeted the government for not fulfilling the guarantee of providing Rs 1,500 per month to women but now when it had been implemented, the opposition party was opposing it. — Sanjay Chauhan, CPM leader