Delhi Announces ₹2,500 Monthly Aid for Women Under Lakshmi Yojana Starting August
The Delhi government will launch the 'Delhi Lakshmi Yojana', a financial assistance scheme for women, by the end of August, according to an official statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Monday. Eligible women aged 21 to 60 years will receive ₹2,500 per month.
The CMO specified the eligibility criteria: women or their families must have been residents of Delhi for at least 10 years; neither the beneficiary nor her family should have a criminal record; only the eldest eligible woman per family will qualify, with a limit of one woman per family; and the family's annual income must not exceed ₹2.5 lakh.
Women already receiving benefits under any government pension or other regular financial assistance scheme are excluded. Additionally, women from families that own a four-wheeler are not eligible.
The government aims to launch the scheme around Raksha Bandhan, which falls on August 28. The announcement followed a high-level review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Delhi Secretariat.
In a statement, Chief Minister Gupta said the objective is to provide every eligible woman with a 'reliable foundation of financial security', enabling her to support her family and contribute to society. She described women's empowerment as a key pillar of good governance.
The scheme was a key promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2025 Delhi Assembly election. Originally called 'Mahila Samriddhi Yojana', it promised ₹2,500 per month to women from poor families. During the campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it would be approved in the first Cabinet meeting of a BJP government and referred to it as 'Modi ki guarantee'. He had also stated that women would start receiving the benefit by March 8, 2025.
On March 8, 2025, the Delhi Cabinet approved the scheme and allocated ₹5,100 crore for it, later revised to ₹5,110 crore in the annual budget. However, the rollout was delayed beyond the initially promised date.
