Ahead of the assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the Madhya Pradesh government has issued a notification stating that 35 percent of government jobs in the state will now be reserved for women. The new order bars the forest department in the state.
The state government has made amendments to the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Special Provision for Appointment of Women) Rules, 1997. "Notwithstanding anything contained in any service rules, there shall be reserved 35 percent of all posts in the service under the state (except Forest Department) in favour of women at the stage of direct recruitment and the said reservation shall be horizontal and compartment-wise,” read the notification.
Also read: After Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh too slated for a centrally driven BJP poll campaign
Focus on women
Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan recently said overall voters in the state stand at 5,61,36,229. Of this, the number of male voters is 2.8 crore while that of female voters is 2.72 crore. According to Ranjan, there are 29 such assembly constituencies where the number of women voters is more than men. The BJP government, under Shivraj Singh Chouhan, over the years introduced various welfare schemes for women including the Mukyamantri Kanyadaan Yojana.
The most elaborate pro-women initiative has been the latest Ladli Behna Yojana. Eligible women get Rs 1,250 per month under this scheme. The total number of beneficiaries has now touched 13.2 million across the state, according to India Today. Recently, Chouhan listed all the pro-women initiatives of his government for almost 18 years. He drew a link between his efforts and the Women’s Reservation Bill of the Centre. He termed it as a continuation of the BJP’s pro-women initiatives.
According to reports, schemes with a focus on women are the single biggest factor for the BJP poll campaign in Madhya Pradesh. A CNBCTV18 report stated that priority will now be given to women in local bodies, including aldermen and other positions. Education fees for girls will be borne by the government while ensuring better education for them.
According to reports, Madhya Pradesh was the first state to introduce 50 percent reservation for women in elections to panchayats and urban bodies. It also has 30 percent reservations for women in the police force. The state also offers concessional tariffs for the registry of property in case it is in a woman’s name, stated the report.
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