Punjab: How will the government finance the scholarship scheme for women?
Punjab: Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday sought to know from the state’s Aam Aadmi Party government how it plans to fulfil its pre-poll promise of giving a monthly stipend of Rs 1,100 to women aged 18 years and above. The statement came after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann told media persons in New Delhi on February 10 that his government would soon start paying the stipend. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had announced the launch of the scheme during the 2022 state assembly election but the promise is yet to be fulfilled. Bajwa said the promise was long pending.
“I strongly advocate that the AAP government should be ready to pay three years’ arrears to women as the original promise was to launch the scheme soon after the formation of the government,” he said in a statement. He said the state has around 1 crore women aged 18 years and above and the government owes them Rs 36,000 crore. Asking the government how it would raise funds for the scheme, he said, “While Punjab’s economy is on the verge of collapse in the three-year tenure of AAP, it should tell the people of Punjab from where it would raise funds to fulfil this promise. The people of Punjab have every right to know about it.” The leader said it was initially promised that each woman would be given Rs 1,000 per month, but CM Mann increased the promised amount to Rs 1,100 in May last year.
