Mumbai/Palghar/Uran: Ranshet, a small village in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, is 130 kilometres away from Mantralaya, the seat of power in the state. Paddy farmer Ladki Vitthal Korda, 52, belongs to Karbat pada, a tribal hamlet in Ranshet, and is a beneficiary of a flagship cash transfer scheme for women run by the state government.

       Korda had a wide grin on her face as family members joked about how she shared a name with the scheme: Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. Under this scheme, women belonging to families with an annual income of less than ？2.5 lakh are entitled to financial assistance of ？1,500 a month, which is transferred directly to their bank accounts.

       So far, Korda has received ？7,500 over two tranches. The timing was near perfect—a few months ago, her daughter-in-law gave birth to twins and the extra money came in handy for medical and childcare expenses.

       “For the first time, I received money from the government directly in my account. It is good but not enough. Women should get skilled and should have employment opportunities in the village itself. Right now, there is none," she said, while using a makeshift winnowing fan to separate grain from chaff outside her home.

       With a budgetary allocation of ？46,000 crore this year, Ladki Bahin Yojana is the centrepiece in a host of populist cash transfer and welfare schemes offered by chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Mahayuti government in its bid to return to power when the state goes to the polls on Wednesday. The Mahayuti comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (SS) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

       Unlock Premium Insights in This Article

       Take your experience further with Mint Premium- access thought-provoking opinions, expert analysis and in-depth insights

       Subscribe now Already subscribed? Login

       Premium benefits

       30+ articles from print edition and premium publication daily

       Present across social media apps to keep you updated

       In-depth Market Reports from leading experts

       Most loved Mint podcasts on 35+ topics

       Sharp insights supported by simple data and visuals

       Unlock 30+ well researched

       and bias free premium articles daily

       Access to global insights with

       100+ exclusive articles from

       international publications

       Get complimentary access to

       3+ investment based apps

       TRENDLYNE Get One Month GuruQ plan at Rs 1

       FINOLOGY Free finology subscription for 1 month.

       SMALLCASE 20% off on all smallcases

       5+ subscriber only newsletters

       specially curated by the experts

       Free access to e-paper and

       WhatsApp updates

       Not convinced yet?

       Share your contact details and

       we will get in touch with you…

       = 48 && event.charCode Confirm

       Thanks for sharing your number