Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The politicians get pensions as legislators and as MPs separately. If they are members of both Houses of Parliament, they take separate pensions.
But over 200,000 women of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) have been deprived of financial aid under the Ladli Behna Yojna on the pretext of double benefits.
Under the Aahar Anudan Yojna, the government began to give Rs 1,000 to the women belonging to the Baiga, Bharia, and Sahria tribes in 2017. At present, the amount has been hiked to Rs 1,500.
The women heads of the families belonging to PVTGs are being given the benefits under the scheme in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
These women get the aid to save themselves from malnutrition. Since there was malnutrition among the tribal children in Sheopur and Shivpuri, the benefits were given to them.
But the government does not give the benefits of the Ladli Behna Yojna to these women, who have been fighting for it for the past two and a half years. Although the women belonging to PVTGs gave memorandums at different levels, they did not get the benefits under the Ladli Behna Yojna.
According to the officers, those who are getting benefits under the Aahar Anudan Yojna cannot be given double benefits.
In this situation, they cannot get the benefits of the Ladli Behna Yojna. The officers further said the rule was framed at the time of preparing the Ladli Behna Yojna. A social worker who is associated with the welfare of the Sahria tribe, Udaybhan Singh Parihar, said efforts had been made at different levels.
The women, belonging to PVTGs, are deprived of the benefits of the Ladli Behna Yojna in the name of double benefits, but both schemes are different, he said.
The Tribal Welfare Department gives the benefits of the Aahar Anudan Yojna. The aim of this scheme is to stop malnutrition and to provide nutritious food, but the purpose of the Ladli Behna Yojna is to empower women, he said.
Phool Singh of the Sahria tribe says all women belonging to PVTGs are not getting the benefits of the Aahar Anudan Yojna in the state. But the women, who are getting the benefits of this scheme, should also get the financial assistance under the Ladli Behna Yojna, he said.
According to sources, the government is planning to connect the women of PVTGs of other districts through the Aahar Anudan Yojna. The women, who are included in the Aahar Anudan Yojna, will be separated from the Ladli Behna Yojna.
