Ladli Behna creates ‘financial pressure’ but will continue, says MP CM Mohan Yadav – Times of India

BHOPAL: Industrialization of Madhya Pradesh and women empowerment are two top priorities for his government, MP CM Mohan Yadav told TOI on Thursday about completing one year in office. “2025 will be the year of the industry for MP,” he said.
After being pushed from the third bench in the MLAs’ group photo to the CM’s chair after BJP’s emphatic victory in 2023, Yadav started charting a path to put MP on the fast track of the industry. His first priority – and his “greatest achievement” to date – was completing the Ken-Betwa River Link Project. “Without water, nothing is possible. So, the first step was to ensure adequate availability of water across the state,” he said.
“The world’s first Nadi Jodo Abhiyan is being completed by MP. We are completing two projects with two states: Parvati-Kali Sindh-Chambal with Rajasthan and Ken-Betwa with UP. We have also started connecting rivers within the state, starting with Kahn and Gambhir rivers,” he said.
At the same time, the CM has launched an industrialization mission. “I took industrial conclaves to the divisional headquarters. Till now these were held only in Indore. We held regional conclaves and received an overwhelming response. I also held road shows in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Calcutta and Coimbatore and visited Britain and Germany. Now, I will take business conferences to the district level,” he said, adding that he is confident that 50% of the business proposals will become reality.
Recognizing that Ladli Behna Yojana is a ‘financial strain‘, he said his government decided to go ahead with it because it was a “gamechanger in women’s empowerment.” “So far, we have paid Rs 19,212 crore to 1.29 crore beneficiaries of the scheme,” he added.