New Delhi: Delhi govt Monday announced the eligibility criteria for its much-awaited monthly financial assistance scheme for women. Going by some of the strict criteria, the pool of beneficiaries eligible for Rs 2,500 assistance every month is likely to be smaller than estimated earlier.Women aged 21 to 60 who have lived in Delhi for at least 10 years — either themselves or their families — are eligible. Also, neither the beneficiary nor her family should have any criminal record.Within a family, only the eldest eligible woman will qualify for the scheme, and only one woman from each family will be entitled to receive the benefit. In addition, the family’s annual income must not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh.Those already receiving govt benefits, such as widow pension or disability pension or other regular financial assistance schemes, will not be eligible. Similarly, women from families that own a four-wheeler will also not qualify.On Dec 12, 2024, the then Delhi govt cabinet approved the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’, under which women were to receive Rs 1,000 a month. The eligibility criteria stated that beneficiaries should be above 18, residents of Delhi and possess a valid Delhi voter ID card. Serving or retired govt employees, income tax payees, or beneficiaries of any Delhi govt social security financial assistance scheme were not eligible. The scheme, however, could not be rolled out.An official said Monday that govt is likely to accept Aadhaar card, voter ID card, date of birth and school leaving certificate as valid documents for establishing the 10-year residency criterion for the latest scheme.However, there is no clarity yet on whether an FIR against a person will disable her eligibility even if the allegations have not been proved in a court of law. The finer details of the eligibility factors will be worked out in a few weeks, the official added.CM Rekha Gupta Monday chaired a meeting at Delhi secretariat to review the scheme for which govt allocated Rs 5,110 crore in its 2026-27 budget and approved renaming it from ‘Mahila Samriddhi Yojana’ to ‘Delhi Lakshmi Yojana’ to give it a Delhi-linked identity.In a statement released after the meeting, the CM’s office said “govt has set a target to launch this scheme around Raksha Bandhan (Aug 28).” TOI recently reported that an Aug 28 launch was likely.The CM directed officials to ensure strict adherence to the scheme’s guidelines so that only genuine beneficiaries are covered. The aim is to make sure that the benefits reach those intended in a transparent, simple and time-bound manner, without any administrative hurdles in the implementation of the scheme.“Govt’s objective is to provide every eligible woman with a reliable foundation of financial security, enabling her to play a stronger role in supporting her family and contributing to society. Govt considers women’s empowerment to be a key pillar of good governance and remains committed to bringing positive change to the lives of lakhs of women,” Gupta said, adding that the scheme will accelerate the progress of families, society and the nation alike.The scheme was one of BJP’s biggest promises ahead of last year’s Delhi assembly elections and was expected to be rolled out from March 8, 2025. However, it was delayed as govt took time to finalise the eligibility criteria.An official said govt will accept applications through an online portal, which has been developed by IT department, and is ready to go live.
