In a HP village, why Sukhu’s Rs 1,500/month for women may serve Congress well

In March, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had announced that his government will give Rs 1,500 per month to women in the age group of 18 to 60 years from 2024-25 financial year under the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna.

Sitting on a stool usually occupied by her husband Gurnam Kishan behind a large drawer at the shop, Sobha Devi says, “Rs 1,500 wale form sab ne bhar diye hain. Kai gharo ki saari auratein bhi bhar rahi hain. Sabko pata hai paisa ek hi mahila ke khate mein aayega, par forms sabhi bhar rahe hain” (Everyone has filled the forms for the Rs 1,500 scheme. In several families, all the womenfolk are filling the forms, despite knowing that only one woman per family will get the money).

When asked how women are getting the form, she says, “We are getting it from a local service centre near our village. So far, no one has received the money, but after the elections, they will.”

When asked which political party and politicians dominate the village, Sobha Devi was initially a bit reluctant to speak but then opened up in a mixed Punjabi-Pahadi dialect, “Modi daa vi zoor hai, Rahul da vi zoor hai, sariya partia zoor laa rahi haa, vaise sada area vich Congress daa zoor hai” (Modi has influence, Rahul also has influence, all parties are trying hard, but in our area, the Congress dominates).

Kuthyari village, with a population of around 1,800, falls under the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, where BJP’s Anurag Singh Thakur – who is also a Union minister and the incumbent MP – and Congress’s Satpal Singh Raizada are contesting. The BSP has fielded Hem Raj. In terms of the assembly segment, Kuthyari falls under the Chintpurni assembly constituency, which was won by Congress’s Sudarshan Singh Babloo in 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections. Anurag Thakur has been consecutively winning the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat for the last three terms.

Gurmeet Singh, another resident of Kuthyari village, says, “People in our village are not leaning towards any particular party. We go according to the wave for a person (of the party). And these days the whole village, especially women, is talking about the Rs 1,500 scheme and the women are filling the forms.”

The Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna was rolled out in HP on March 4.

While announcing the scheme, Sukhu had stated that eligible women in Lahaul and Spiti district have received Rs 1,500 during the first phase of the scheme. In Lahaul & Spiti, where the population is very low, the scheme was launched on an experimental basis on February 1, 2024.

In April, Opposition leaders, including former CM Jai Ram Thakur (BJP), had complained to the ECI about the scheme, emphasising that the forms carried pictures of late PM Indira Gandhi and CM Sukhu, thereby violating the model code of conduct. Considering the complaint, the ECI had directed the state government that while it can distribute forms without any pictures, the money cannot be distributed under the scheme.

For the record, the scheme was rolled out in Himachal Pradesh a month before the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh a “talabaaz sarkar” for putting “tala (lock)” on the Staff Selection Commission and claimed that the Sukhu-led dispensation was politically unstable and can fall anytime.

During his rally in Nahan seeking support for his party candidate Suresh Kashyap from the Shimla (SC) constituency, Modi also took a dig at the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna and the cow dung scheme, wherein the state government would purchase cow dung from farmers to transform it into organic fertiliser. The farmers would be paid Rs 2 a kg for the cow dung manure.

The PM said, “I want to ask my mothers and sisters whether they have received Rs 1,500 in their accounts as promised by the state government.” The BJP’s women supporters in the crowd responded with a “no”. Then PM said, “Gobbar kaa paisa mila kaya (did you get the money for cow dung manure?).” People in the crowd again replied “no”.

The Sukhu-led government had notified the cow dung scheme in December 2023. However, the process to procure the cow dung manure is yet to start.

Modi also said, “The Congress had also promised 1 lakh jobs. Did anyone get any employment? Let alone giving one lakh jobs to the youths, the ‘talabaaz sarkar’ put a lock on the recruitment commission.”

All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Sanjay Dutt, who is in Himachal Pradesh, said, “The Sukhu-led government has already notified Rs 1,500 scheme. Once the Model Code is lifted, the eligible women will get two months’ money (Rs 3,000) in their accounts. But the manner in which the scheme was halted by the BJP, it exposed its double standards.”