Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress, AAP announces cash schemes to woo women voters in Himachal & Delhi

New Delhi: Women in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh will soon start getting Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 every month respectively with AAP and Congress governments on Monday announcing the schemes to woo them ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

On Monday, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has announced Rs 1,000 per month for women above the age of 18 while Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured an annual financial assistance of ₹15,000 to women, which was part of the ten guarantees promised by the Congress during the Assembly elections in late 2022.

In Delhi, the announcement for monthly financial scheme for women came during the budget speech by Finance Minister Atishi.

In Himachal, Rs 800 crore would be spent annually for the ‘Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna’, which will benefit around eight lakh women. Party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had made the announcement on the guarantee.

As per the scheme, every woman aged between 18 years and 80 years will receive Rs 1,500 per month. Sukhu, who is facing dissidence with a section of MLAs seeking his removal, said five out of ten poll promises have been fulfilled as of now.

In Delhi, Atishi announced the ‘Mukyamantri Mahila Samman Yojna’ during her budget speech in which she promised Rs 1,000 every month, saying it would be the world's “biggest scheme for empowering women”.

“Whenever a daughter or sister in our families comes home, her elder brother or father gives her some money because they want their sister or daughter to fulfil her needs without being dependent on anyone. Today, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, (is) fulfilling the duty of being an elder brother, and a son…” she said. 

Every woman above the age of 18 years will be eligible to receive an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month.

“So, whether she is a daughter studying in college needing extra books, a daughter preparing for a government job needing coaching, or a woman wishing to watch a movie in a cinema hall; now, they won't have to ask for money from anyone for their expenses because their brother Arvind Kejriwal will provide them with Rs 1,000 every month,” she said.

However, women who are currently a part of any government pension scheme or government employees or income tax payers will not be eligible for the scheme. An allocation of Rs 2,000 crore has been made for the new scheme.