Victory for Nitish, credit for Himanta: The Rs 10,000-scheme idea came from Assam CM, says report

Nitish Kumar may have bagged another term – his 10th – as the chief minister of Bihar, but the credit for one of the reasons for the NDA’s election sweep, the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, has gone to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The yojana saw Rs 10,000 being deposited into the accounts of 1.5 crore women in Bihar as first instalment. Experts and analysts have credited the yojana as a catalyst for Nitish Kumar’s victory.

According to a report in The Indian Express, NDA leaders have credited Sarma for the idea. Sarma told the daily that he sent his bureaucrats to Bihar on the request of Nitish Kumar’s government, where they made a presentation before bureaucrats on a ‘Jeevika Rs 10,000 model’. That model was later incorporated into the yojana.

The report added that the JD(U) leaders acknowledge Sarma’s contribution but also say that it was more of a “collective ideation”. Sarma says it was the result of Prime Minister Marendra Modi’s vision to make 3 crore lakhpati didis.

“Even Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Scheme was inspired by Assam’s Arunoday,” Sarma said. The Mukhya Mantri Ladli Behna Yojana involved paying Rs 1,000 to every eligible women, which again helped the BJP return to power in 2023 in the state.

The report cites a BJP leader who said the Assam team’s idea was to give a non-refundable Rs 10,000 as seed money to women to come up with a business idea. It later was modified to include an additional Rs 2 lakh to be given to women in installments to start a business depending on its viability.

A JD(U) leader said the NDA was looking at initiating a model to be centered around women after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav announced the ‘Maa Bahin Maan Yojana’, the report added.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Kumkum Bhardwaj said the Centre deserved credit for the yojana – termed as ‘das-hazari’ during the election – as it is the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) that funds the Jeevikas.

Not ones to back down the Opposition has questioned the timing of the Rs 10,000 scheme with 30 lakh women receiving the money after the model code of conduct came into effect. As man as 1.21 crore women had received it before the code came into effect.

Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor said at a press conference that the ‘das-hazari’ scheme was announced to lure women voters.