Ladki Bahin Yojana, UPS: Will Maharashtra Assembly elections happen in December?

Rumours are doing the rounds that Assembly elections in Maharashtra may not be announced until the state government – led by Mahyuti – releases all four instalments of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.

If this happens, the elections to the 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly could take place in December, as the fourth instalment of this scheme could be released in October, Lokmat reported.

Mahayuti buying time before assembly polls?

The term of the current Maharashtra Assembly will last until November end. It was expected that the Maharashtra Assembly elections would be declared along with that of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir in October-November.

However, the Elections Commission of India (ECI) did not announce the polls in Maharashtra, citing security reasons, heavy rainfall and upcoming festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali.

Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) criticised the Election Commission for not declaring elections in Maharashtra. According to PTI, the Opposition said it seems the ruling Mahayuti wants more time to "fool" the people of the western state with their fake promises.

Opposition leader Aaditya Thackeray said, “Seems like the EC is giving them breathing time to allow their contractors to loot our State!”

The Election Commission said, “We could handle two elections at a time…and in any case, it is [elections can be held] within six months of the term of the assembly which is ending."

Govt shares update on Ladki Bahin Yojana: When will women who applied for the scheme after July 31 get the benefits?

Amid the speculations, the Maharashtra government announced a major update related to the scheme earlier this week. According to reports, ₹3,000 have already been deposited in the accounts of women who applied before July 31. This amount is for two months – July and August.

Now, for women who applied after July 31, ₹4500 will be deposited in their accounts collectively for July, August and September, Mumbai Tak reported.

Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister — Aditi S Tatkare (@iAditiTatkare) August 24, 2024 ">Aditi Tatkare said in a post on X recently that all the women eligible for the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana who applied by July 31 have been given the scheme's benefit.

"The verification process of the applications of women applied after July 31 is going on at the district level. As soon as the data of district-level approved applications is received by Women and Child Development Department, the list is sent to the bank," Tatkare said, adding that "soon eligible women sisters will get the benefit of the scheme even after 31st July".

Mumbai Tak reported that during the application verification process, women will receive messages that their application has been approved. After this message, money will be deposited in their accounts in September, the report added. The fourth instalment may be released in October.

Maharashtra govt rolls out UPS

On Sunday, the Maharashtra cabinet decided to implement the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) announced by the union government a day earlier for state government employees.

The UPS ensures that all central government employees who have served for 25 years or more will receive 50 per cent of their last drawn salary from the past 12 months as a pension. These employees will also be eligible for post-retirement inflation-linked increments in their pension amount.