Delhi govt to provide Rs 2500 to eligible women ‘very soon’: CM Rekha Gupta

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said her government is working on a plan to implement Mahila Samriddhi Yojna and will “very soon” provide Rs 2,500 per month to eligible women in the city.

Speaking at ‘Express Adda’ event hosted by the Indian Express, Gupta said that the problem was that no new ration cards were issued in Delhi in the last 12-14 years, which was a reason no new beneficiaries could be added to any welfare scheme.

“It is our intent to implement the scheme in a foolproof manner so that eligible persons who do not have ration cards also benefit from it. We are working on a foolproof policy to implement the scheme. It will be provided very soon,” she said.

Ahead of Assembly polls in February this year, the BJP promised that if elected, it would give Rs 2,500 per month to women from economically weaker sections.

The CM said her government has already sanctioned Rs 5,100 crore for implementation of the scheme in its budget 2025-26.

Gupta also asserted her government’s commitment to fight air pollution in Delhi, saying vehicular pollution and dust were the primary reasons behind it.

She said that 150 new electric buses will be flagged off on Friday.

“By the end of this year, the electric bus fleet will be around 2,000 while it will take 1-1.5 years to change the entire public transport bus fleet into an electric one,” she said.

Gupta, who took oath as Delhi Chief Minister in Ramleela Maidan on February 20, stated that promoting women is an ideal of the party.

“Promoting women and youth and giving them responsibility is an ideal of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moulded it into a system with reservation for women within the party. There could not be a better thing to give women decision-making power,” she stated.

She said that Delhi people gave a chance to the BJP, thinking that a double-engine government would help the city grow and develop.

“People felt we will be able to provide them a better tomorrow. After four months, I believe, people now feel they took the decision for the betterment of Delhi,” Gupta said.

The BJP has come to power in Delhi after 27 years, she said and added, “We are not only completing the backlog of stalled works of those 27 years but also preparing for the further 27 years of future so that the BJP serves people in such manner that it remains in power for 50 years,” said the chief minister.

Gupta said she has been given a chance by Delhi and will consider her a successful CM only if she can alleviate whatever pain people in the city have felt so far.

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She attacked the previous AAP government in Delhi, claiming they were in the habit of fighting various institutions and crying hoarse without doing anything.

“The previous governments were in the habit of complaining. They intended to fight only, be it LG, PM, court (or) police. It was not part of their formulation that the governments could work together. Now there is a cordial atmosphere where the Centre and state and the MCD are working together as per one ideology.”

She said that, in the prevailing situation, she does not think full statehood for Delhi is an issue, as there are other pressing issues to attend to.