Ahead Of Delhi Election, AAP Government Clears Rollout Of Rs 1,000 Per Month To Women
The 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' will cost the Delhi government Rs 4,560 crore per year. Nearly 38 lakh women may be eligible for the monthly cash transfer scheme.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government on Thursday approved the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' for transfer of Rs 1,000 per month to eligible women beneficiaries, just over a month ahead of assembly election.
Nearly 38 lakh women may be eligible for the monthly cash transfer scheme, according to a cabinet note. The scheme will cost the Delhi government Rs 4,560 crore per year.
Women above 18 years of age and a resident of the national capital territory of Delhi with valid voter ID card as of Dec. 12, 2024, will be eligible for the Mahila Samman Yojana.
The scheme excludes past and present permanent employees of central and state governments or local bodies, current or former elected women public representatives, women who have paid income tax in the last assessment cycle (i.e. AY-2023-24), and beneficiaries of social security and financial assistance schemes such as the disability pension scheme, old age pension, and financial assistance for women in distress.
Earlier in the day, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal promised that the Rs 1,000 allowance to women under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana will be raised to Rs 2,100 if the party retains power in the assembly elections.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi clarified that if the Model Code of Conduct comes into force after Jan. 13, the first installment under the scheme will be transferred into the bank accounts of eligible women before elections.
The registration for the scheme, which was first announced in the Delhi budget for fiscal 2025 by then finance minister and now CM Atishi, will begin from Friday.
Delhi will join a long list of states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand that provide monthly cash handout to women. Such schemes have gained immense popularity among women, who have voted for the incumbent party implementing it in recent elections.
Delhi is headed for assembly election in February. The ruling AAP, according to pollsters, faces primary challenge from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Notably, AAP has been heading the Delhi government more around a decade. The party first came to power following the 2013 assembly polls, but headed a government that lasted only for 49 days. It subsequently won the 2015 elections with a brute mandate, and retained power with a similarly strong mandate in 2020.
