BHOPAL: With an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on Monday approved a monthly pension scheme for unmarried women aged above 50 years in Madhya Pradesh.
The State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cleared the proposal for starting the Unmarried Women Pension Scheme by the Social Welfare and Disability Welfare Department.
The scheme will entail Rs 300 monthly pension to unmarried women aged between 50 and 79 years and Rs 500 monthly pension to unmarried woman aged 80 or above.
The Cabinet also gave its in principal nod for separate rooms and toilets for women staff and complainants at the 676 police stations in the state. The project will cost over Rs 49.10 crore.
The twin cabinet decisions are being seen as a bid by the ruling party to woo the women voters in the state. As per the Election Commission of India (ECI) records as on July 31, 2018 there were 4.84 crore-plus voters in the state, out of which around 48% were female voters.
The other decisions taken by the state cabinet on Monday, included approval to 405 posts for the metro rail projects in Indore and Bhopal. It also cleared the proposal for EUR 500 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Bhopal Metro rail project. Also, cleared was the proposal to prepare a feasibility report for starting metro rail in Jabalpur and Gwalior.
The state cabinet also decided to fund 100 graduate students from the state to study at top professional coaching centers in Delhi for cracking the UPSC competitive exams.