The Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government is set to formally launch the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana on 1 August 2025, under which eligible women will receive a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,500. The scheme, budgeted at ₹5,110 crore in the 2026-27 Delhi Budget, is expected to benefit more than 17 lakh women across the national capital once fully operational.

Who Qualifies

Women aged between 21 and 60 years from households with an annual income of up to ₹2.5 lakh are eligible to apply. The application process will be conducted entirely through a dedicated online portal, which will go live immediately after the formal launch.

Several categories are excluded from the scheme. Women who are income tax payers, GST filers, government employees, or are already receiving benefits under other government welfare programmes will not qualify. Families that own a four-wheeler, consume more than 2,400 units of electricity annually, or have members serving in government departments or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are also ineligible. Women with more than three living children or those with a criminal record are similarly excluded.

How the Money Will Be Disbursed

Beneficiaries will have two options for receiving the monthly assistance. Under the first, ₹1,500 will be deposited into a recurring deposit or fixed deposit account each month, while the remaining ₹1,000 will be credited to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) wallet for approved essential purchases. Alternatively, beneficiaries may opt to receive the full ₹2,500 directly into a recurring deposit or fixed deposit account, bypassing the CBDC wallet split entirely.

Beyond Cash: Social Welfare Linkages

The Delhi Lakshmi Yojana is structured to promote broader social objectives alongside direct financial support. These include encouraging school enrolment, creation of APAAR and ABHA IDs, timely vaccination, registration on the POSHAN Tracker, and participation in campaigns such as 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Women are also being encouraged to join self-help groups and skill development programmes as part of the scheme's conditions.

Implementation and Oversight

District-level committees will be responsible for scrutinising applications, granting approvals, and resolving grievances, with the stated aim of ensuring transparent and efficient rollout. This comes amid growing competition among state governments to introduce direct benefit transfer schemes targeting women voters — a trend that has intensified across several states in recent years. The Delhi scheme's CBDC wallet component is notably among the first of its kind at the state level, signalling a push toward digitally traceable welfare spending.

With applications opening online on the day of launch, the government's ability to manage portal traffic and district-level verification at scale will be an early test of the scheme's execution capacity.