RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Kalpana Soren on Saturday criticised the BJP for its proposed 'Gogo Didi' scheme for women, dubbing the move as another rhetoric of the saffron party ahead of the assembly polls Kalpana, the wife of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, made the remark while addressing a 'Maiyan Samman Yatra' rally in Ranchi's Tamar block.
"I have heard that they (BJP) are making people fill out a form of a scheme, which they are bringing in to counter our 'Maiyan Samman Yojana'. They only deliver 'jumla' (rhetoric). Be careful, they have duped crores of people several times by making them fill forms across the country," she alleged.
The ruling JMM-led coalition provides Rs 1,000 per month to women under the Jharkhand Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana (JMMSY).
Assembly polls in the state are due later this year.
"The BJP first made people fill out forms with the promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every person's account and then for two crore jobs. Everyone knows what happened thereafter. The people of Jharkhand have seen BJP's 'jumlebazi' for 20 years," she said.
In a bid to counter the JMMSY, the Jharkhand BJP in its first poll manifesto announced the launch of the 'Gogo Didi' scheme for women, under which financial assistance of Rs 2,100 would be provided every month.
The JMM MLA asserted that the 'Maiyan Samman Yojana' was conceptualised by the Hemant Soren government for the first time in Jharkhand.
At the rally, she also asserted that the state government has taken several initiatives to empower 'Jal Sahiyas' (water volunteers), 'Poshan Sakhis' (nutrition volunteers) and lakhs of 'Sakhi Mandal' (self-help groups) women.
The honorarium of 'Jal Sahiyas' and 'Poshan Sakhi' was increased, while a credit linkage of Rs 11,000 crore has been made available to the women of 'Sakhi Mandal', so that they can become self-reliant, Kalpana Soren said.