Delhi Cabinet nod to Rs 2,500 monthly aid for women; panel formed to implement scheme

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday said a committee headed by her has been formed to implement the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, a welfare scheme aimed at providing a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 each to poor women.

Gupta said the Delhi cabinet has approved the allocation of Rs 5,100 crore for the scheme's implementation.

Addressing a press conference, the chief minister said, "We had a cabinet meeting earlier in the day and the cabinet has put its stamp of approval on the promise we (the ruling BJP) had made in our (poll) manifesto. It has approved the scheme to support poor women in Delhi." To oversee the implementation of the scheme, a committed headed by her has been formed, Gupta said. Senior ministers Ashish Sood, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra will also be part of the committee, she said, adding that a dedicated web portal will be launched for registrations under the scheme.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had made the Rs 2,500-per-month promise a key part of its campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls held in February, surpassing the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) offer of Rs 2,100 per month.

The strategy paid off as the saffron party secured a sweeping victory, winning 48 of the 70 seats and returning to power in Delhi after a gap of more than 26 years.

The AAP was reduced to 22 seats, while the Congress failed to win any. PTI