- Punjab's AAP government launches Chief Minister Mawan-Dhiyan Satkar Yojana for women
- Scheme offers Rs 1,000 monthly to most women above 18, Rs 1,500 to SC women
- Excludes government employees, MPs, MLAs, and income tax payers from benefits
Four years after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in Punjab, and less than a year before the state goes to polls again, the Bhagwant Mann government has fulfilled its poll promise of giving a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to most women in the state.
The state government, which had been under the Opposition's fire for not fulfilling this promise, made the announcement in the Budget for 2026-27 and claimed that the scheme would cover 97 per cent of the women in the state.
Presenting the Budget in the Assembly on International Women's Day, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced the Chief Minister Mawan-Dhiyan Satkar Yojana. He said the government aims to make women of the state economically self-reliant.
Every woman in Punjab above the age of 18 will be eligible to register for this scheme, making its coverage larger than that of similar fund transfer schemes for women in other states. Women who already receive old-age pension, widow/destitute women pension, or disability pension will also be eligible to benefit from this scheme. Women from the Scheduled Castes will get Rs 1,500 per month under this scheme.
Some sections of women won't be eligible for this benefit. These include current or former government employees, current and former MPs or MLAs, and individuals who pay income tax. The Punjab Finance Minister described it as the world's first 'universal cash transfer' scheme. He said its main objective is to empower women to play a bigger role in household decisions, invest in their health, and encourage daughters to pursue higher education.
Punjab has a population of approximately 3 crore, of which about 1.4 crore are women. As for women over 18, the number is estimated to be between 1 crore and 1.10 crore. Considering the government's eligibility criteria for the scheme, it will spend approximately Rs 10,000 crore annually.
The Congress, meanwhile, has slammed the AAP government and said it must pay the arrears of the past four years. The women's wing of the state Congress held a protest outside the Assembly. It said the AAP promised the Rs 1000 a month assistance on forming the government. So, the government must pay the Rs 48,000 owed to each woman. Some of the women Congress workers were detained after the protest, including state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring's daughter Ekam.
Addressing the Assembly, Finance Minister Cheema said many states in the country have announced similar schemes, but they are limited to a small section of women and ignore the vast majority of women who are financially dependent on men for their basic needs.
"For example, a neighboring state announced a similar scheme but only for households with an annual income under Rs 1 lakh, covering only 20 per cent of all adult women. But Punjab will not make such statements. Hon'ble Chief Minister Sardar Bhagwant Singh Mann Ji is not a Chief Minister for 20 per cent of women of Punjab, but to all the women of Punjab. That is why we have decided to become the first State to ensure all adult women are covered under the scheme," he said.
