The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has finally fulfilled its pre-poll promise of providing monthly financial assistance to women in the state, nearly four years after coming to power. Announced in the Budget for 2026-27, the scheme, named Chief Minister Mawan-Dhiyan Satkar Yojana, aims to provide Rs 1,000 per month to most women above the age of 18, with enhanced benefits for women from Scheduled Castes, who will receive Rs 1,500 per month. The government claims that the scheme will cover approximately 97 per cent of the state’s women, making it one of the largest universal cash transfer schemes in the country.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented the Budget in the Assembly on International Women’s Day, highlighting the government’s objective of making women economically self-reliant. Cheema emphasized that the scheme is intended to empower women to contribute meaningfully to household decisions, invest in their health, and encourage daughters to pursue higher education. Women who already receive pensions for old age, widowhood, destitution, or disability will also be eligible, ensuring inclusive coverage across diverse socio-economic groups.

While the scheme promises wide coverage, some sections of women are excluded, including current or former government employees, MPs, MLAs, and individuals who pay income tax. According to the Finance Minister, the initiative represents the world’s first “universal cash transfer” scheme for women in a state, in contrast to other states where similar schemes are often limited to households below a certain income threshold. Cheema cited a neighboring state as an example, where only 20 per cent of women qualified for assistance under comparable programs.

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Punjab has an estimated population of around three crore, of which approximately 1.4 crore are women. Women over 18 are estimated to number between one crore and 1.10 crore. Based on the government’s eligibility criteria, the program is expected to cost roughly Rs 10,000 crore annually. The scheme’s implementation less than a year before the next state elections has also sparked political debate, with the Congress party criticizing the AAP government for the delay in delivering on its promise.

The Congress staged protests outside the Punjab Assembly, demanding that the AAP pay arrears for the past four years. The party argued that women were owed Rs 48,000 each since the scheme’s original announcement, a sum that has yet to be disbursed. Some women Congress workers, including Ekam Warring, daughter of state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, were reportedly detained during the demonstration, highlighting the heightened political tensions surrounding the scheme’s rollout.

Addressing these concerns in the Assembly, Finance Minister Cheema stressed that Punjab’s initiative surpasses similar programs nationwide by covering a vast majority of women rather than a limited segment. He reiterated that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s administration is committed to ensuring that all adult women, irrespective of income or background, benefit from the program. The government maintains that the scheme is designed to strengthen women’s financial independence and contribute to broader socio-economic development across the state.

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