Fact Check: Is Centre giving Rs 1.6 lakh to girls in India under PM Ladli Laxmi Yojana?

A YouTube video is going viral, claiming that under the PM Ladli Laxmi Yojana, a cash amount of Rs. 1.6 lakh is being given by the government to every girl child in the country. It says that under the Central government's scheme of "PM Ladli Laxmi Yojana", the union government is providing cash of Rs. 1,60,000 to all the girl children. 

It is pertinent to mention that this is not the first time it's gone viral. Last year, a video claiming that the central government was providing cash worth Rs. 1.6 lakh under its "PM Ladli Laxmi Scheme" went viral. However, taking to Twitter, the government of India's fact-check handle clarified that no such scheme was launched and that the viral video is fake. 

Is the govt giving Rs 1.6 lakh to every girl child in India?

The Press Information Bureau shot down the fake news and wrote, "It is being claimed in a #YouTube video that a cash amount of ₹ 1,60,000 is being given by the central government to all daughters under PM Ladli Laxmi Yojana(sic)." The PIB labelled the viral YouTube video as fake. It further said, "No such scheme is being run by the Central Government."

Ladli Laxmi Yojana

It is important to mention that the "Ladli Laxmi Yojana" scheme is not a scheme under the Central government, but it is a scheme of the Madhya Pradesh government. According to Madhya Pradesh's "Ladli Laxmi Yojana" scheme, girls in Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 25,000 who take admission to college. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the 'Ladli Laxmi' festival organised last year in October. 

"An amount of Rs 25,000 will be given to Ladli Laxmis who take admission in colleges. Education, security, health facilities, self-reliance, prosperity and respect for daughters are the MP government's priorities," the CM said at the event according to PTI. CM Shivraj further added, “The work of economically empowering the girl child, giving them vocational training and giving a guarantee on bank loans will be done by the government. Tuition fees will also be arranged for higher education for them."

The enactment of the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, aimed at enhancing the social and educational status of girls and also rectifying an uneven sex ratio, was started with strong resolution in 2007, the CM said, adding that seeing the girls, who were infants 14 years ago, take admission to Classes X, XII, college etc, brought "overwhelming joy". The CM also informed the gathering that 1.31 lakh girls have been registered under the Ladli Laxmi Yojana in the first six months of this fiscal.