BJP hails welfare scheme for women

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday came out in praise of the Delhi government's Mahila Samriddhi Yojana — a cash transfer scheme that will provide a monthly dole of ₹2,500 to eligible women in the Capital — and said the proposal is the fulfillment of a promise that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made to the city's residents in the run-up to the state assembly elections.

- Smriti Kak Ramchandran and Snehil Sinha

NEW DELHI:

The Delhi government on Saturday — observed globally as International Women's Day — approved a budgetary allocation of ₹5,100 crore for the scheme. A ministerial committee, chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta and including ministers Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood and Kapil Mishra as members, has also been formed to ensure the scheme's implementation.

Speaking at an event in the Capital, BJP president JP Nadda said his party and PM Modi believe in women-led development, and since the Jana Sangh days, its leaders have put women in leadership roles and remained committed to their social and economic empowerment.

"Prime Minister Modi had said that we will give ₹2,500 to every woman in Delhi under the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana. Today I am happy, and I congratulate Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and PM Modi that today the proposal has got approval in the Cabinet also," Nadda, the Union health minister, said.