NEW DELHI Aug 2026 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of the Legislative Assembly and former minister Gopal Rai strongly criticised the BJP government in the Delhi Legislative Assembly over the conditions imposed under the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, demanding that they be removed and the scheme’s benefits extended to all women. He said conditions requiring women to have 3 children or provide proof of living in Delhi for 10 years had excluded numerous families, questioning why such conditions were being imposed when the government had announced that all poor women would benefit from the scheme. He demanded that the government retain only an income ceiling of ₹2.5 lakh and a condition of not owning a car, so that most women could benefit.
Participating in the discussion on the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana in the House, senior AAP leader and MLA Gopal Rai said,“Several members from the ruling side called this scheme the voice of every woman. Perhaps they said this in an emotional moment, but the reality is something else. Today, there are all the MLAs sitting in this House, whether from the ruling side or the Opposition. People are coming to every MLA’s office with forms for this scheme.”
Gopal Rai questioned whether a woman with a disability and three children should be denied the benefits of the scheme. “This needs to be considered with a cool head. When a government formulates a scheme, officials also sit in the Cabinet. Officials often impose conditions in such a way that the maximum number of people cannot avail the benefits of the scheme. The scheme is welcome, but every MLA will have to face its shortcomings in their respective constituencies,” he said.
Gopal Rai said the government should consider amending the scheme and incorporating feedback received from the public. He acknowledged that the ruling side would support the scheme while the Opposition would raise questions, and added, “When we formulated the EV policy during our tenure and the present government is now bringing a new EV policy, the government must be feeling that there were some shortcomings in the old policy that need to be corrected. My submission is that the suggestions this House gives to the government are important.”
The AAP MLA further said,“Whenever there is a discussion on women’s reservation in the country, it is about providing reservation to the entire half of the population comprising women. But the government reduced this to half of half in its manifesto and said that this benefit would not be available to all women, but only to economically weaker women. Now, while implementing that rule, the government has reduced it to half of half of half.”
“The government has imposed conditions that those who have more than three children or do not have a 10-year residence certificate will not receive the benefits of this scheme. As a result, many families have been excluded from the scheme,” he highlighted.
Gopal Rai said the only possible obstacle could be financial resources and noted,“When the budget is continuously increasing, the government should fulfil the promise it made. The government had publicly announced that this benefit would be provided to economically weaker women, so it should apply the same criteria, such as an income limit of ₹2.5 lakh or a condition of not owning a car. But the government should reconsider the new conditions that have been imposed. The Cabinet can review this scheme.”
The senior AAP leader told the ruling-party MLAs that the families who had voted for and elected them had not voted with these conditions in mind. He questioned how they would explain to these families why they were not receiving the benefits of the scheme. “Opposition MLAs could say that they were not in government, but ruling-party MLAs could not send these women back. When these women asked them, ‘We also voted, so what is our fault?’, they would not be able to explain it to them,” he asserted.
Gopal Rai appealed to the government to reconsider the conditions imposed on poor women and decide to extend the scheme’s benefits to all poor women. He said the Delhi government was not facing a financial crisis and could also seek financial assistance from the Central government. Therefore, he urged the government to reconsider its policy of reducing the benefit from half of half to half of half of half.
Gopal Rai also urged all MLAs to visit their constituencies, seek feedback from voters and ensure that as many people as possible who can benefit from the scheme receive its benefits. He called on all MLAs to jointly request the government to ensure that the facility being provided is extended to everyone.
“Until MLAs do this, we will not be able to answer our voters. The government has only one excuse: it had promised in its manifesto to provide benefits to poor women, but conditions have now been imposed even among poor women,” he concluded.
