In a step towards launching the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, the Delhi government has defined a family as a husband, wife, and children and has kept the annual family income at ₹2.5 lakhs. The government has also limited the scheme to women aged between 21 to 60 years and will only allow one beneficiary per family. These are a few criteria being considered by the Delhi government for the new scheme that was promised to the residents of Delhi by the BJP ahead of the recently concluded Delhi elections.
According to the BJP’s promise, a monthly financial assistance of ₹2500 will be granted to poor women. In the month of March, the government set up a high-level committee headed by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to frame the norms of the scheme and earmarked ₹5100 crore for the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana.
The committee reportedly held its first meeting last week after the government completed 10 days in power in the capital city. Along with CM Gupta, Lo Minister Kapil Mishra, and Education Minister Ashish Sood (both ministers are part of the committee), senior officials from the Women and Child Development department were also among those present in the meeting.
Further discussion
A detailed discussion is supposed to be held on what the eligibility criteria should be. Preliminary, it has been decided that ₹2500 will be given to one woman per family, and if there are families with more than one eligible woman, only one of them will get the benefit. This made it important for the government to first define a family. In the case of a joint family, where elderly parents live with their children and grandchildren, a family will be divided according to this definition to ensure that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law (or the mother and the daughter) both can avail the scheme.
Other criteria part of the scheme can be the annual family income set to be kept at ₹2.5 lakh. Those who are over 60 years old will get an old age pension, and the scheme will only be limited to those between 21 to 60 years. Women who are already availing pension from the government, taxpayers with government jobs, and those who own a four-wheeler will not be eligible.
According to government estimates, the scheme will attract a total of 20 to 22,00,000 women from Delhi NCR.
