NEW DELHI The Bharatiya Janata Party’s women’s wing will initiate a nationwide training programme starting February to familiarise its members with the minutiae of the Union government’s social welfare programmes so that they can in turn carry out awareness drives and help enrol women who are left out of the ambit of these schemes.
In the far-flung areas where marginalised communities are present in substantial numbers, the morcha will also carry out surveys to identify labarthis or beneficiaries of the schemes and help point out the deficiencies in the implementation of the programmes, said party leaders aware of the details.
The exercise is being carried out with the intent to maximise the party’s outreach towards women who have been identified as a critical support group of the BJP.
According to a senior functionary aware of the details, a survey will be carried out in the constituencies with a higher tribal population to reach out to the women voters.
“In July and August, we will map the ST population and identify the districts where the implementation of social schemes is lagging. Our members will stay for two days in each district to engage with the people and if anyone has been left out, we will sure they can avail the benefits of the schemes,” the functionary said.
The morcha has also identified particular communities for the outreach, such as the weaving and fishermen community. “We will conduct a survey among these communities to identify their concerns and find ways of addressing those. The morcha will like to contribute to the party’s manifesto based on the feedback,” said the functionary.
The outreach programme will address the dual purpose of wooing the women and the tribal communities, both of which the party is banking on improve its tally in the 2024 general elections and in the upcoming bunch of state polls. The party has been trying to secure the support of the tribal communities in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and in the north-eastern states that go to the polls this year.
The decision to carry out an outreach programme was taken at the recently concluded national executive committee of the morcha.
“The first step is to arm our mahila morcha members with the details of the social welfare schemes of the Union government, because we felt that there are many aspects that they are not aware of. This is particularly important in the non-BJP ruled states, where there is confusion among the labarthis about who is funding the schemes,” said Vanathi Srinivasan, president of the Morcha.
The BJP has in the past accused some state governments of passing off the Centre’s schemes as their own or for not sharing details of the eligible candidates who can be provided benefits such as subsidised housing or the PM Kisan Nidhi.
“After the training programme, our morcha members will reach out to different communities, especially those that are socially and financially marginalsied and explain how Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has been working for their empowerment and mainstreaming,” she said.
The focus areas will be Opposition-ruled states in the south such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana; as well as West Bengal and Odisha in the east.
“We will also organise a selfie programme where our workers will post their pictures with labarthis from every mandal and district across the country. Our aim is to get one crore such selfies,” the first functionary said.
All women MPs, ministers and MLAs will also be part of the outreach. “We have to train out workers so that they can understand how the enrolment for schemes is carried out and if there are any difficulties in doing so then what are the remedies,” she said.
