Why it may take over 3 months to credit Rs 1,000 in women’s accounts in Delhi

Chief Minister Atishi, however, is learnt to have said that there was no need to create posts for a PMU and instead hire an agency.

The council of ministers, it is learnt, also made some “significant changes” to the proposed scheme, including the removal of the clause stating that the benefit would be extended to only those women whose family income was less than Rs 3 lakh per annum. Officials said it also made it clear that the Women and Child Development (WCD) department is free to obtain modifications in the registration and implementation process, including that in the amount to be disbursed.

Earlier, the Finance department had flagged “a huge financial implication” of the scheme, with the State Resource Division stating that the scheme will push Delhi into budgetary deficit as well as deficit on revenue and capital account. It also said that the scheme should not be brought before the Cabinet without proper study, it is learnt.

The CM, however, called the Finance department’s approach “obstructionist”, officials said.

“It was discussed in the Cabinet that the scheme should be rolled out as soon as possible and one instalment should reach the first batch of applicants before the elections, which are expected to take place in February,” a senior government official aware of developments related to the passage of the scheme in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting said.

“The battle now is to receive and vet applications, alongside Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, in time. Government officials have spoken to their counterparts in Maharashtra and were told that they had partnered with banks for this purpose… But in Delhi, this can prove to be a challenge given both the migrant and floating populations from NCR and other states,” the official added.

Officials further said the Cabinet was told that the scheme would require an annual allocation of Rs 4,560 crore and salaries for the proposed 49 staff, infrastructure cost and office expenses would cost around Rs 2.5 crore.

It is learnt that one of the issues flagged by the WCD department in the implementation of the scheme in the ongoing financial year was the fact that there were less than four months left before it ended.

While the proposed portal, which would see the implementation of the scheme, was yet to be created – something that would require at least three months as per the department, it is learnt – elections to the Delhi Legislative Assembly were on the anvil in January-February.

The department is also learnt to have flagged that recruitment and tender-related activities cannot be taken up while the Model Code of Conduct is in place, impacting the proposed timelines.