Months ahead of Assembly polls, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said the monthly honorarium of anganwadi workers will be raised by Rs 3,000 to Rs 13,000.

Addressing a convention here, Chouhan said anganwadi workers will also benefit from Rs 1,000 being transferred to the accounts of 1.25 crore women under the newly-launched Ladli Behna scheme.

The honorarium will be increased to Rs 13,000 from Rs 10,000 and the same will be hiked by Rs 1,000 every year as an incentive, he said.

Apart from this, the honorarium for mini anganwadi workers has also been increased to Rs 6,500 per month, he said.

Anganwadi workers and sahayikas (assistants) will be provided Rs 1.25 lakh on retirement, and they will be eligible for health and accident insurance of Rs 5 lakh, the chief minister said.

At least 50 per cent of posts will be reserved for sahayikas when they get promoted to anganwadi workers, Chouhan said, adding that anganwadi workers will get facilities like government employees.

The ruling BJP is facing a challenge from Congress in the polls, due later this year. In the 2018 elections, Congress scored a narrow victory over BJP and cobbled up an alliance with SP, BSP, and Independents to form a coalition government.

The government led by Kamal Nath fell in March 2020 due to a rebellion by MLAs, paving the way for BJP to return to power.

- With PTI Input