The Delhi government will hold an event at Talkatora Stadium on August 26 to distribute the pension letters. District-level committees have also been asked to speed up verification of applications.
The scheme, which came into effect on August 1, provides ₹2,500 a month to eligible women from low-income families in Delhi.
Who is eligible for the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana?
The scheme is open to women aged 21 to 60 years who meet the eligibility conditions.
The applicant must:
- Be the eldest eligible woman in the family
- Be a registered voter in Delhi
- Belong to a family with annual income of not more than ₹2.5 lakh
- Have herself, her husband or either parent as a Delhi resident for at least 10 years as of the application date
Several categories are excluded. These include women receiving government pensions or certain other government financial assistance, income-tax payers, GST filers, government employees and public office holders.
Families with more than three living children, annual electricity consumption above 2,400 units or ownership of a four-wheeler are also excluded.
How will the ₹2,500 assistance be paid?
The scheme does not necessarily mean that the entire ₹2,500 will be available as unrestricted monthly cash.
By default, ₹1,500 will be deposited into a recurring deposit (RD) or fixed deposit (FD), while the remaining ₹1,000 will be credited to the beneficiary’s bank account linked to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) wallet.
The RD/FD portion will have a lock-in period until July 31, 2029.
A beneficiary can also choose to put the entire ₹2,500 into an RD or FD, subject to the same lock-in period.
The CBDC wallet will have restrictions on spending the money on items and services on the government’s negative list, including alcohol, tobacco, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, lottery tickets, gambling and betting.
What happens if a beneficiary is later found ineligible?
The financial assistance can be stopped immediately if a beneficiary is found to be ineligible at any stage.
The government can also seek recovery of money already paid and initiate legal or administrative action in cases involving fraud, according to the scheme guidelines.
What happens if the beneficiary dies?
If a beneficiary dies, payments into her CBDC wallet will be stopped.
The money accumulated in her RD account, along with interest, will be transferred to her legal heir. If the amount remains unclaimed for two years from the date of death, it will revert to the government account.
Can women still apply?
Yes. Applications for the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana will remain open throughout the year on the scheme’s portal.
The last day of each month will be treated as the cut-off for applications received during that month. Eligible applications approved thereafter will be considered for benefits from the following month.
The Delhi government has also said that an option to correct errors in applications will soon be added to the scheme’s website.
-With PTI inputs
