Delhi Lakshmi Yojana to roll out on Aug 28; women with over 3 children ineligible

Published - July 29, 2026 01:04 am IST - New Delhi

By The Hindu Bureau

The Delhi government on Tuesday announced that the first instalment of the ₹2,500-per-month financial assistance under the 'Delhi Lakshmi Yojana' will be released to approximately 17 lakh eligible women on Raksha Bandhan, which falls on August 28.

According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), an online portal for applications will be launched on August 1. The government also outlined additional eligibility criteria for the scheme.

Eligibility and Exclusions

The CMO statement specified that the following categories of women are ineligible for the scheme:

• Income taxpayers
• GST return filers
• Government employees
• Women with more than three living children
• Families with annual electricity consumption exceeding 2,400 units
• Families with a member employed by the State or Central governments, any Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), or any government organisation

Previously announced eligibility criteria include:

• Women aged between 21 and 60 years
• The beneficiary or her family must have been residents of Delhi for at least 10 years
• Neither the beneficiary nor her family should have any criminal record
• Only the eldest eligible woman from each family qualifies; only one woman per family is entitled to receive the benefit
• Family annual income must not exceed ₹2.5 lakh
• Women already receiving benefits under any government pension or other regular financial assistance scheme are not eligible
• Women from families owning a four-wheeler are also excluded

Payment Options

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta stated that eligible women will have two options for receiving the monthly assistance:

Option 1:

• ₹1,500 deposited in a recurring deposit (RD) or fixed deposit (FD)
• ₹1,000 credited to a digital rupee wallet
• Note: The digital wallet amount can only be spent on permitted goods and services as specified under the government's prescribed 'Negative List'

Option 2:

• The entire ₹2,500 deposited in an RD/FD
• Note: This option is intended to help women build long-term savings and capital

Government Statement

The Chief Minister said the government had fulfilled this important promise made to women within just over a year of assuming office.

"Under the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, every eligible woman will receive ₹2,500 a month as financial assistance. The scheme will usher in a new chapter of financial security and self-reliance for lakhs of women." — Rekha Gupta, Chief Minister

Key Poll Promise

The Delhi Lakshmi Yojana was one of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) key promises in the run-up to the 2025 Delhi Assembly election, originally named the 'Mahila Samriddhi Yojana'.

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the scheme would be approved at the first Cabinet meeting of a BJP government and described 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. However, it was not rolled out during the financial year. The allocation was later revised to ₹5,110 crore in the annual budget presented in March this year.