NEW DELHI, Dec 12: With Assembly polls drawing closer, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced the rollout of the Delhi government’s Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana, and promised to raise the monthly aid from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 post-elections.
He, however, clarified the money could be credited into beneficiaries’ accounts only after elections as the dates are likely to be announced soon.
Delhi chief minister Atishi, meanwhile, said if the Model Code of Conduct comes into force after January 13, the first instalment will be transferred into the bank accounts of eligible women before elections.
Kejriwal announced the rollout of the scheme while speaking at an event organised at the AAP headquarters, and attended by a large number of the party’s women workers and supporters.
The registration for the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana, which was announced in the budget 2024-25 by then finance minister and now chief minister Atishi, will begin from Friday, he said.
The scheme originally proposed to provide Rs 1,000 per month to all eligible women in Delhi aged above 18 years. “The registration for the scheme will start tomorrow. It will be for Rs 2,100,” Kejriwal said amid cheers of the gathering.
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“This scheme is for empowering women and addressing their financial needs. While the BJP calls it free ‘revdis,’ I see it as a step towards strengthening our society. The BJP asks from where the money will come, but I said we will give free electricity, and we did it,” Kejriwal said.
The AAP leader also expressed confidence his party will perform magnificently in the polls and urged women to actively support them. “If all women work together, we will secure more than 60 seats,” he said.
The AAP, pitted against a confident BJP trying to upstage it in the polls due before February next year, believes the announcement would boost its chances in the elections.
Kejriwal asserted that he was a “magician” of accounts and knew how to save money to fund the scheme.
BJP leaders who raised questions about the scheme and created doubts “should not worry any longer”, he said.
The AAP government allocated Rs 2,000 crore for the scheme under the budget. The eligibility criteria of the potential beneficiaries laid down that the woman should not be employed with the government or receiving pension, and they should not be paying GST or income tax.
The scheme is likely to benefit around 45 lakh eligible women, a significant number which the AAP believes would help the party bolster its performance in the poll, especially because of the promise to raise the amount to Rs 2,100 after the elections.
The BJP, which is yet to announce its manifesto, attacked Kejriwal, asking why the AAP government did not implement such a scheme for women in Punjab despite a similar announcement made by him before the elections in the state in 2022.
“Kejriwal is only repeating his fake promise. Even during the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, they got women to fill up forms but paid nothing to them,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed.
Delhi chief minister Atishi said the honorarium amount will be raised to Rs 2,100 after the elections. (PTI)
