Madhya Pradesh government to extend Bhavantar scheme to mustard farmers, says CM Yadav

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said in the Legislative Assembly that the State Government is planning to extend the Bhavantar Yojana to the mustard farmers to compensate them for the difference between the government procurement price and the market price. 

Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha during the ongoing Budget session, Mr. Yadav said that the State Government has sent a proposal to this regard to the Union Government and that the move is expected to benefit about 80 lakh farmers. 

The Bhavantar scheme, which pays the farmers the difference if their crop is sold in the market at a price less than the government-declared minimum support price (MSP) or procurement price, currently benefits the soybean farmers in Madhya Pradesh. 

“Honorable Speaker, in the past, during the soybean crisis, we took a major decision and set a model for the entire country by providing the benefits of the Bhavantar Scheme for soybean to our farmers. With this, we achieved two goals simultaneously. One goal was to keep the [crop] markets populated through farmers. Knowingly or unknowingly, the [crop] markets were losing its charm due to crops being sent to government procurement centres instead of the market,” Mr. Yadav said. 

“We have now decided to move forward on this path. I am pleased to note that this year the mustard acreage has increased by 28% compared to the previous year. This is the current figure, and according to the second advance estimate, the estimated production is going to be 15.71 lakh metric tonne. This is a huge figure. Therefore, to benefit farmers at the government’s MSP for agricultural produce, we have taken this initiative to ensure a profitable price for the produce, which will also encourage mustard farmers,” the CM said, adding that the market price of muster is between ₹5,500 and ₹6,000 until January as opposed to the Union Government-set procurement price of ₹6,200 per quintal. 

Meanwhile, the the day’s proceedings also witnessed protests by Congress MLAs as they demanded that fresh registrations under the government’s flagship Ladli Behna scheme be opened. The Opposition MLAs also staged a walkout from the House following a heated exchange with the Treasury Benches on the issue. 

The discussion on the issue was started by Congress MLA from Ujjain’s Tirana Mahesh Parmar asked the Minister for Women and Child Development, Nirmala Bhuria, multiple questions regarding the scheme, including when the registrations will commence for the women who have entered the eligible age. 

Ms. Bhuria, in her response, said that there is no proposal regarding new registration under consideration at present. 

The scheme was launched by the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March 2023 with the amount of ₹1,000 per month, which was increased to ₹1,250 the same year in October, ahead of the State Assembly election. The current regime of Mr. Yadav increased the allowance amount to ₹1,500 in October this year. As per the scheme, women between 21 and 60 years of age, and having an annual family income of less than ₹2.5 lakh, receive the monthly allowance from the State Government.

As per the data provided by Ms. Bhuria in the Assembly, 1,25,29,051 women currently receive the allowance as opposed to 1,31,06,525 registered women at the launch of the scheme. The government has attributed the dip in numbers to deaths, women crossing the age of 60 or voluntarily giving up the benefit. 

The scenes, however, turned chaotic after Mr. Parmar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had “betrayed” the women of the State after earning their votes with the help of the scheme and promising them that the allowance would be increased to ₹3,000/month. Mr. Parmar also said that since the formation of new BJP government in 2023, about 25 lakh women have crossed the age of 21 and have been waiting for their registrations. 

The exchange soon turned into a chaotic situation as it was joined by various MLAs from both sides, including Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar as well as BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma.  

Soon, Chief Minister Yadav joined the discussion and said that the fresh registrations and the hike in the allowance will be done “slowly”. 

“Our Minister has given the right answer to this question. When we implemented the Ladli Behna Yojana, the same LoP and leaders of his party were saying that it was only for the elections. I am proud that it has been almost two and a half years now. Our scheme is not only reaching everyone, but the amount has also been increased. We have stated in our manifesto that within five years, by the year 2028, we will give ₹3,000 per sister and will continue to do so,” Mr. Yadav said. 

Mr. Singhar, however, alleged that the government was not giving a clear answer on the issue and announced that the Congress MLAs were staging a walkout on the matter. 

Published – February 24, 2026 12:01 pm IST