Ahead of Delhi polls, Kejriwal helps women, elderly register for welfare schemes

New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) Ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Monday helped women and the elderly register for the ‘Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana’ and the ‘Sanjeevani Yojana,’ respectively.

The former chief minister had on Sunday said the beneficiaries didn’t need to go anywhere. “Our volunteers will come to your homes and complete the registration process.”

In its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal, the Delhi government had announced a scheme to provide Rs 1,000 per month to all adult women.

However, Kejriwal recently announced that the amount would be raised to Rs 2,100 if his party returned to power for a third consecutive term after the assembly elections, due in February.

He had also announced a scheme to provide free treatment to people aged 60 and above.

The AAP supremo helped the women and the elderly generate one-time passwords (OTPs) required to register and then handed over their ‘Kejriwal Kavach’ registration cards.

Accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, he visited Kidwai Nagar in the morning to help the women register for the honorarium scheme.

“Today, we started this initiative in my constituency. Chief Minister Atishi and I personally registered several women to start the scheme,” Kejriwal said.

Atishi said in a post in Hindi on X, “A new era of women empowerment is beginning with the registration of the ‘Mahila Samman Yojana’ in Delhi. Today registered the initial beneficiaries with Arvind Kejriwal. Now, our sisters and daughters in Delhi will not have to depend on anyone for their small expenses because, under this scheme, Rs 2,100 will come into their accounts every month.”

In the evening, Kejriwal helped the elderly register for the ‘Sanjeevani Yojana’ in Jangpura, where he was accompanied by Atishi and Manish Sisodia, the AAP’s Jangpura candidate.

“We started by registering some elderly for the ‘Sanjeevani Yojana’. I am happy that 2.5 lakh women registered for the ‘Mahila Samman Yojana’ within some hours,” he said.

There are around 20-25 lakh elderly people in the national capital, he added.

Sisodia, a former Delhi deputy chief minister, said Kejriwal’s “politics of work” was bringing change in people’s lives.

“People pay crores of rupees in taxes to the government but, when they pass the age of 60, they require treatment that costs Rs 2-3 lakh. That is why Arvind Kejriwal has come up with the ‘Sanjeevani Yojana’, registration for which began today,” he added.