NEW DELHI: The BJP government in Delhi is finalising guidelines with strict conditions for implementing the Mahila Samridhi Yojana scheme. Top sources said the benefits may be limited to one woman from a family regardless of how many women figure in a family’s BPL card.
Women with more than three children may be excluded from the beneficiary list, the sources said, adding even women with three children would not get the benefits if the latter are unvaccinated.
The scheme will prioritise BPL cardholder women aged between 21 and 60.
Sources explained that if more than one woman’s name is on a BPL card, then only the oldest woman, as per the age mentioned in the BPL card, will benefit from the scheme.
However, the facility will not cover the oldest woman if she gets similar assistance from other welfare schemes, such as widow and old-age pensions.
In its election manifesto, the BJP assured several freebies, including the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, under which women were promised a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500, the money going directly into the beneficiaries’ accounts.
The party formally announced the scheme’s launch on Women’s Day. The Delhi cabinet approved an early allocation of Rs 5,100 crore to assist eligible women financially.
The scheme is open to women living in Delhi for the last five years with an annual family income below Rs 3 lakh and those not required to pay income tax. The government has estimated that nearly 20-25 lakh women under the BPL category will benefit from this initiative.
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