The Delhi Cabinet is scheduled to hold a meeting at the Delhi Secretariat on Saturday — when International Women’s Day will be observed — and during the gathering, chief minister Rekha Gupta and her council of six ministers will likely approve the Mahila Samridhi Yojana, a scheme under which the state government will give a monthly dole of ₹2,500 to poor women, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries said.
In the run-up to the Delhi assembly polls, the BJP had mentioned the ₹2,500 allowance for women in their election manifesto, and had vowed that the scheme will be approved in their first cabinet meeting.
The BJP functionaries quoted above said the cabinet is ready to approve the scheme, and that the criteria including the eligibility conditions were still being fine-tuned till late on Friday.
“Earlier, the party was considering an annual income cap of ₹3 lakh for women to be eligible for the scheme, but now, that cap may be brought down to ₹2.5 lakh. In addition, women who own a car are also likely to be excluded from the scheme. The final details of the scheme will be presented to the cabinet on Saturday, and the CM and ministers will take a final call,” said a senior functionary aware of the developments.
Once the cabinet approves the scheme, it will be sent to the lieutenant governor for a final approval, and a gazette notification will be issued.
A second functionary said once approved, the budgetary allocation for the scheme will have to be announced for this monthly rollout in the upcoming Delhi budget session, planned for March 24-26.
The functionaries said that after the Cabinet meeting, CM Gupta is likely to attend a Women’s Day event at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which will be organised by the Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha. BJP president JP Nadda will be the chief guest at the function, with BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanitha Srinivasan, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, and party MPs Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj also present.
“Through the function we are celebrating International Women’s Day and also thanking the BJP leadership for honouring women by making one of us from the mahila morcha the CM of Delhi,” Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha chief Richa Pandey Mishra said.
Atishi writes to CM
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, on Friday wrote to CM Gupta to “remind” her of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “guarantee” to deposit ₹2,500 into the accounts of the Capital’s women by March 8.
Atishi said that the women of Delhi are “eagerly waiting to see” the first instalment of the promised dole reflected in their bank accounts. She further suggested that the funds be transferred to women’s accounts immediately to ensure they receive what is rightfully theirs and their “hopes are not shattered”.
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