‘Women aren’t birth machines’, CM Rekha Gupta defends Lakshmi Yojana as AAP questions it's conditions
The scheme allocates ₹5,100 crore for women aged 21 to 60, offering monthly assistance of ₹2,500 while emphasizing family planning as a personal choice.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta defended the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana against opposition criticism, asserting that women's health and financial empowerment are top priorities. She dismissed the notion that women should be treated as "birth machines," emphasizing that women's health should not be compromised for the sake of having more children.
Gupta pointed out that the scheme, which provides ₹2,500 per month to eligible women aged 21 to 60, is a significant welfare initiative for the BJP-led Delhi government, with a budget of ₹5,100 crore and benefits for around 1.7 million women. The scheme has already seen 592,406 registrations since its launch on August 1. However, it has several exclusion criteria, including women with more than three children, those receiving financial assistance under other schemes, income-tax payers, GST return filers, government employees, families owning a four-wheeler, households with high electricity consumption, and women with a criminal record.
Gupta defended the government's decision to exclude women with multiple children, stating that family planning is a personal choice and not subject to anyone's permission. She also criticized the opposition for failing to implement a scheme of similar scale during their previous tenures.
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