CHANDIGARH, March 3:
Addressing a press conference held at Punjab Bhawan, Minister for Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities of Punjab, Dr Baljit Kaur on Tuesday said the Punjab Government has implemented a sensitive, transparent and people centric welfare model through the Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development and the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities, ensuring that almost every household in the state benefits from one scheme or another, especially senior citizens, women, children, persons with disabilities, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and other marginalised communities.
Detailing support for the elderly, Dr Baljit Kaur stated, “At present, 23,62,579 needy senior citizens are receiving a monthly pension of ₹1500 through Direct Benefit Transfer directly into their bank accounts within the first week of every month.”
She added that strict monitoring led to the removal of ineligible and deceased beneficiaries, resulting in recovery of ₹170 crore. Two modern old age homes at Tapa and Mansa have been made operational at a cost of ₹17.33 crore, providing accommodation, food, clothing, healthcare and mental wellbeing support, while NGOs working for senior citizens have received grants worth ₹11.43 crore.
Referring to the “Sada Buzurg Sada Maan” campaign, she added that district level camps launched in 2024 strengthened the physical and mental health of senior citizens, with over 20,000 elderly persons participating in 2024 and again more than 20,000 this year, availing healthcare support, legal aid and assistive devices.
Emphasising women empowerment, the cabinet minister continued, “Under the free bus travel facility for women, an expenditure of ₹2042 crore has been incurred, enabling women to access education, employment and healthcare without financial barriers.” She informed that five Working Women Hostels, three in Mohali and one each in Jalandhar and Amritsar, are under construction at a cost of ₹150 crore and will be completed within the year, with crèche facilities to support working mothers.
Strengthening grassroots delivery, she said 4,377 Anganwadi Workers and Helpers were recruited in 2023 through a transparent process and recruitment of 6,110 more will be completed shortly to enhance nutrition services and early childhood care. She added that menstrual hygiene is being promoted through sanitary pad distribution via over 27,000 Anganwadi Centres and that 6.48 lakh widows, divorced, deserted and low income women are receiving ₹1500 monthly pension without interruption.
On maternity and child welfare, Dr Baljit Kaur shared, “Against a central target of 2,94,288 beneficiaries under Matru Vandana Yojana, Punjab covered 4,22,492 women over four years. Over 1000 new Anganwadi Centres have been constructed, dilapidated buildings repaired and 100 Saksham Anganwadi Centres are being developed in Moga and Ferozepur with modern facilities, while training was imparted to all Anganwadi Workers at a cost of ₹10 crore to promote play based learning.”
Highlighting child protection, she added that under Mission Jeevanjyot, children found begging were rescued and enrolled in schools with continuous monitoring. She informed that 165 child marriage cases were detected over four years, 150 were prevented and FIRs registered in 15 cases, while the sponsorship scheme expanded from around 1,700 beneficiaries earlier to nearly 11,000 children, each receiving ₹4000 per month. “Adoption services were strengthened in 16 districts, resulting in 138 successful adoptions including 26 inter country adoptions,” she added.
On support for vulnerable groups, the Punjab minister shared, “2,94,440 dependent children are receiving ₹1500 monthly pension and a dedicated Disability Cell has been established for single window assistance. The ₹1000 monthly disability assistance was restored, disability employees were exempted from night duties and long distance postings on request, and pension for acid attack victims was enhanced from ₹8000 to ₹10,000 per month and made gender neutral. Free bus travel has been extended to attendants of visually impaired persons and sign language interpretation was introduced for the first time during a Punjab Vidhan Sabha session.”
She added that Post matric scholarships worth ₹1943 crore were disbursed over the past four years. Backlogs from 2017 to 2020 were cleared by releasing ₹366 crore to private colleges and ₹92 crore to government institutions, enabling students to receive pending degrees. The Dr B R Ambedkar Scholarship Portal and Free Ship Card system were launched to ensure transparency and fee free admissions, increasing beneficiaries to nearly 2.7 lakh students annually.
She further said that under the Ashirwad Scheme, ₹51,000 marriage assistance is being provided irrespective of caste, with ₹1023 crore released so far, while ₹100 crore has been released under the Adarsh Gram Yojana for development in Scheduled Caste dominated villages and ₹6 crore long pending dues under the inter caste marriage incentive scheme have been cleared.
Concluding, Dr Baljit Kaur stated, “The Punjab Government remains firmly committed to ensuring that every welfare scheme reaches the rightful beneficiary on time and with complete transparency, enabling every citizen of Punjab to live with dignity, security and equal opportunity.”
