AAP’s pre-poll push: ₹1,000 monthly cash sop for women outside I-T net

Delhi govt's ₹1,000 monthly scheme for adult women below taxable income to benefit 5 million; opposition accuses AAP of propaganda.

The Delhi government’s plan to provide ₹1,000 to each adult woman residing in the city and earning below taxable income thresholds underscores the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) focus on reaching out to women voters, especially in the months before the general elections and a year ahead of the state elections, said experts and analysts, pointing to a string of women-centric policies the Arvind Kejriwal-led administration has floated during its nine years in power.

Delhi finance minister Atishi at Vidhan Sabha. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Delhi finance minister Atishi unveiled the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojna while delivering her first budget speech and added that the government has allocated ₹2,000 crore for the scheme. Kejriwal separately said that the scheme will be rolled out after the general elections and will benefit around five million women.

Earlier, the governments of a slew of governments, including those of Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, also launched similar schemes to benefit women in those states, and such programmes were part of the election manifesto of several parties over the last two years.

Senior spokespersons of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the AAP of propaganda and of failing to deliver on its promises.

Presenting the budget for the 2024-25 fiscal in the House, Atishi said, “The Arvind Kejriwal government will give ₹1,000 every month to every woman above 18 years of age under the Mukhya Mantri Samman Yojana, provided they are not an income tax payer, are not beneficiaries of any other government pension scheme, are not government employees, and are a resident of Delhi. It will help them meet many necessary small expenses.”

The minister said that eligible women who wish to enrol for this scheme will have to fill a form and give a self-declaration. “On the basis of the self-declaration, that woman will start getting the benefits of this scheme. Along with the form, every woman will have to provide her Aadhaar card and bank account information,” Atishi said.

A Delhi government officer said the programme’s nuts and bolts will be finalised by the state cabinet.

“The finer details of the scheme will be worked out when the scheme is prepared for submission to the cabinet,” said the officer, who asked not to be identified.

The AAP has extensively relied on its flagship programmes, such as free power, water supply and bus ride ahead of the elections. These programmes are key cogs in the party’s governance model, which it has also extended to Punjab.

This is the second major government benefit aimed at women by the party. In October 2019, the AAP government made it free for women to travel in public buses, a scheme that is regarded as having played a part in the party’s victory in the 2020 assembly polls. According to government figures presented in the assembly on Monday, 402 million pink tickets --- the zero fare slips to women --- were issued in the 2022-23 fiscal.

Speaking at a press conference after the presentation of the budget, Kejriwal said the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna will empower the women of Delhi.

“The biggest empowerment comes when there is money in the pocket, it makes a person feel powerful. In our society, non-earning women live in a disadvantaged position and are dependent on their husbands and others even for their small needs. Now, we will send ₹1,000 every month to the accounts of women above 18 years,” he said, appealing to women voters to elect INDIA bloc candidates from all seven seats of Delhi in the Lok Sabha polls.

Senior BJP leader and leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said: “The government should explain why the AAP has stopped handing out old-age pensions. Not a single new-old age pension has been sanctioned since 2017.”

Tanvir Aeijaz, associate professor of political science at Ramjas College, called cash benefit transfers an alluring promise ahead of the elections.

“This programme will lead to competition among other parties for such a move. But there is always a trade-off between what you get and what you lose through public policy,” Tanvir said.