After being sworn in on November 28, 2024, Hemant Soren’s cabinet announced the implementation of the MSY programme
It’s clear that the JMM swept to power in the Assembly elections on the promise of increasing the sustenance amount given to women in the state from ₹1,000 to ₹2,500. However, implementation of
the scheme is not only turning out to be challenging, it will also put pressure on
the state’s finances
The Maiya Samman Yojana (MSY) changed the mood of the women voters in Jharkhand after the incumbent chief minister, Hemant Soren, announced a hike in the sustenance allowance from Rs 1,000 (launched in August 2024) to Rs 2,500 just a day before the Election Commission of India announced the dates of the Assembly elections.
Soren’s decision to hike the sustenance amount came as a counter to the BJP’s pre poll announcement of the Gogo Didi Yojana, which promised Rs 2,100 to the 12.8 million (1.28 crore) women voters in the state.
The result was that the Hemant Soren led, INDIA-bloc coalition of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and CPI-ML(L) won a landslide victory with 56 seats in an 81-seat Assembly, overcoming the anti incumbency factor. Schemes targeting women have become a go-to strategy for political parties. When Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar came to power, similar schemes were implemented.
After Soren was sworn in as chief minister at the Morhabadi Maidan on November 28, 2024, one of the first decisions of his cabinet was to approve the payment of Rs 2,500 to women under the MSY. Though it might turn out to be challenging for the Soren government to fulfil its electoral promise due to the cost to the state’s exchequer, it might still find the necessary resources.
The senior JMM MLA and former state finance minister, Prof. Stephen Marandi, said, “We have taken up this plan as a challenge. This is the biggest economic step taken in the public interest, which the
government is committed to deliver. The
government will implement this scheme
smoothly and fulfil its promise to the
people. The financial bottlenecks will be removed. Other schemes and public work won’t be affected.”
For FY 2024-25, the Jharkhand government presented a budget of Rs 1,28,900 crore. Usually, budgetary outlay increases by 10%-12% every year. As of December 2024, a total of 53,63,354 women have been enrolled under MSY, while more than 10 lakh applications are pending for verification. The state exchequer will need to spend Rs 17,500 crore to implement this scheme.
Besides this flagship programme, Soren also promised a host of other welfare schemes such as the Electricity Bill Waiver scheme, Old Age Pension scheme, Agriculture Loan Waiver scheme, Student Credit Card scheme, and provision of gas cylinders at Rs 450. If the state government were to fulfil all the pre election promises, it would cost the exchequer an additional Rs 40,000 crore. Economic experts believe that if all the social welfare schemes were to be implemented, it would lead to the financial collapse of Jharkhand. The only recourse is to improve revenue collection and the existing tax collection systems for generating additional monetary resources that will be needed to meet the additional
expenditure.
For FY 2024-25, the Jharkhand government presented a budget of ₹1,28,900 crore. Usually, budgetary outlay increases by 10%-12% every year. As of December 2024, a total of 53,63,354 women have been enrolled under MSY. The state exchequer will need to spend ₹17,500 crore to implement this scheme
When Hemant Soren was in jail in an alleged Enforcement Directorate money laundering case, his wife took over the reins of the party
It’s clear from the results that the 1.28 crore women voters played a pivotal role in handing a second term to the Soren government
Economic expert Ayodhyanath Mishra
says, “This scheme will be a test of will of the government and its financial manage ment skills. Don’t look at Rs 2,500 just as a freebie. If it helps in improving the spending power, then it will be a step towards self-reliance for women in poor states like Jharkhand.” However, others contend that the promised freebies will become a burden on the state. But if the Jharkhand government is able to improve on the revenue side by bringing in more transparency in tax collection, curbing tax evasion, and cutting down on wasteful expenditure, it would be possible to compensate for the additional expenditure.
At present, the tax collection of many government departments remains below
If the state government were to fulfil all the pre-election promises, it would cost the ex chequer an additional ₹40,000 crore. Economic experts believe that if all the social welfare schemes were to be implemented, it would lead to the financial collapse of Jharkhand. The only
recourse is to improve revenue collection and the existing tax collection systems
their targets. During the first session of the sixth Legislative Assembly, Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore presented a supplementary budget of Rs 11,695 crore, which, he said on the floor of the House, will be utilised for the Maiya Samman Yojana and providing 200 units of free electricity. In August 2024, the Soren government raised the free electricity cap from 125 units to 200 units per month and announced a waiver of unpaid old bills for families who don’t pay income tax.
At the opening of the first session, Governor Santosh Gangwar in his address
said that the state government will also
explore legal options to realise Rs 1,36,000 crore owed to the state by the Centre from the central pool of taxes. The government has asked various depart ments to deposit their outstanding amounts by December end so that the Social Welfare Department can begin crediting the due amounts to the bank accounts of MSY beneficiaries.
Removing Duplication For Reduction In Numbers
With 34 seats, the JMM has got the highest number of seats since its electoral debut in 1980. In that election, the JMM had announced its arrival on the political stage by winning seven of the 18 seats in the Santhal Pargana region with leaders such as Stephen Marandi, Simon Marandi, Suraj Mandal, and Devidhan Besra becoming first-time MLAs. In the 1985 Assembly elections, the party again won seven seats.
In 1990, the party added one more seat to its previous tally. In 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, the JMM had 12 MLAs in the Assembly. In 24 years, the JMM has reached its highest tally of 34 seats, in which the appeal of MSY played a pivotal role.
It’s estimated that the total number of beneficiaries under MSY will reach 60
lakh. The process of weeding out ineligible candidates is underway so that only poor and needy women are registered under this scheme. The government has said that some women who are ineligible for the scheme have enrolled, using fake documents. They are being eliminated and in cases where the money has been credited to their accounts, it will be recovered. The government has also announced that women who are availing of benefits under the Adim Janjati Pension, Divyang Pension, and Widhwa Pension won’t be eligible for MSY. The government has already started work on removing cases of such duplication.
Though Soren announced that the money under the new scheme would be credited into the accounts of beneficiaries in the first week or second week of December, it was only on December 27 that
At the opening of the first session, Governor Santosh Gangwar in his address said that the state government will also explore legal options to realise ₹1,36,000 crore owed to the state by the Centre from the central pool of taxes. The government has asked various depart ments to deposit their outstanding amounts by December end
the first instalment was credited in some districts. The proposed beneficiaries have already started expressing resentment at
the delay in implementation of the scheme.
JMM spokesman Supriyo Bhattacharya explained the delay, saying that since the
amount had been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500, changes needed to be made to the existing framework; besides, there were some banking glitches as well. He emphasised that the delay was not on account of financial constraints. At the same time, the director of the Social Security Department has directed the deputy commissioners of all districts to weed out fake beneficiaries and update the information on the scheme’s portal.
Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha MLA Jairam Mahato criticised MSY in the first session of the Assembly. He said that the Maiya Samman Yojana will make women “nikamma (useless)” and the government should reconsider the eligibility criteria. He urged the government to provide employment opportunities to young women. At present, women between the ages of 18 and 49 qualify for this scheme.
Jharkhand People’s Party leader and former MLA Surya Singh Besra said that
the JMM won through the lure of money and not on the basis of issues affecting
the state. However, despite the criticism and hurdles in rolling out the scheme, it
is certain that the Soren government will implement the scheme despite the risk of increased fiscal deficit.
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