Registration for ₹2,500 dole to begin March 8: Delhi BJP

A programme is likely to take place at the Jawahar Lal Nahru Stadium where only the procedure for the scheme may be announced

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to announce on March 8 the details regarding the implementation of the Mahila Samriddhi Yojna — one of the key promises it made in the run up to the Delhi assembly elections, party leaders said on Sunday.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari at an event held by the Delhi BJP Poorvanchal Morcha on Sunday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

“The work on formulating the categories for the scheme of providing ₹2,500 will start on March 8... The registration will start from March 8 and it will take around one month after which money will start being credited in people’s accounts,” BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said.

A senior party leader on condition of anonymity said that a programme is likely to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on March 8 where only the procedure for the scheme may be announced.

The development comes amid continuing criticism by the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the delay in the approval and implementation of the scheme. Ahead of the February 5 Delhi elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other BJP leaders had promised that the scheme will be passed in the first meeting of the Delhi cabinet, and the money will be credited in the beneficiaries’ accounts by March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

PM Modi at an election rally in RK Puram on February 2 said: “BJP government will be formed in Delhi on February 8, and by March 8, which is International Women’s Day, ₹2,500 monthly allowances will start reaching the accounts of sisters of Delhi...and this is Modi’s guarantee.”

However, the BJP leader cited above said that “there is hardly any time to start the cash deposits and they are likely to take longer time but a symbolic start can be made as per the poll announcement.”

In a press conference, AAP leader Kuldeep Kumar alleged that the BJP is “betraying public trust by failing to implement the scheme in its first cabinet meeting” and “instead using the ongoing Assembly session to target Arvind Kejriwal.”

Kumar said: “PM had specifically stated that this scheme would be approved in the very first cabinet meeting of the BJP government. Trusting this guarantee, Delhi’s voters supported the BJP, leading to the formation of its government. After 27 years, Delhi has given BJP a chance, and they must now answer when and how ₹2,500 will be deposited into women’s accounts,” he added.

Minister Kapil Mishra, however, hit back at the AAP, and said that the financial aid is “Modi’s guarantee, and it will be 100% fulfilled.”