Around 4,000 beneficiary women will receive official letters for financial assistance under the Delhi government’s Lakshmi Yojana from chief minister Rekha Gupta at a special event at Talkatora Stadium on Wednesday, as the government formally launches the scheme ahead of Rakshabandhan.
The scheme is intended to provide greater economic support to women and improve household financial security. As of 12pm Tuesday, 913,495 registrations had been completed on the scheme’s portal, while 652,223 applications had reached the final-submitted stage, according to official data. The Lakshmi Yojana was announced by the Delhi government as a key welfare measure under which eligible women are to receive financial assistance of ₹ 2,500.
The event is likely to be attended by Delhi lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Harsh Malhotra and Delhi ministers, MLAs and councillors. Certain categories, including income-tax payers, government employees and those already receiving financial assistance or pensions, are excluded. The government has finalised the disbursal mechanism for the ₹ 2,500 assistance per month. Beneficiaries can receive ₹ 1,000 through a central bank digital currency and ₹ 1,500 in a fixed or recurring deposit, or opt to put the entire ₹ 2,500 in the deposit, according to officials. The scheme, earlier approved as the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, is planned for three years with a proposed budget of ₹ 5,110 crore and is expected initially to cover around 1.7 million women. Eligible women must be aged 21 to 60, be registered voters of Delhi and meet residency and income criteria. The family’s annual income must not exceed ₹ 2.5 lakh, and generally only the eldest eligible woman can receive the benefit.
The beneficiary women being covered in the latest distribution have gone through the prescribed verification and eligibility process, officials said.
The cheque distribution programme is expected to bring together beneficiaries from across the national capital, with official letters to be handed over to the approximately 4,000 women at Talkatora Stadium as part of the scheme’s rollout.
