Punjab Vidhan passes resolution to continue welfare schemes launched by Mann government

The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday passed a resolution affirming the continuation of public welfare schemes and direct financial assistance, even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government sought to make it a political issue and targeted the Opposition parties over alleged opposition to such benefits ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.

Moved by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on the last day of the Assembly session, the resolution expressed concern over statements attributed to Congress and SAD leaders favouring the withdrawal of existing welfare schemes. It called on all political parties to make their positions clear to the people of Punjab.

Cheema argued that public spending on welfare should not be dismissed as wasteful expenditure. “State’s resources must be used to improve people’s lives through financial assistance, healthcare and relief from household expenses. Direct assistance provides critical relief to mothers managing monthly household budgets, farmers cultivating fields, and families confronting unexpected medical crises,” he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP over its opposition to direct financial assistance, Cheema challenged political parties to clarify whether they supported the continuation of the schemes.

When rebel Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali spoke on the resolution, Cheema specifically sought his stand. Ayali said he supported welfare schemes funded through public money and cited the power subsidy introduced by the then government in 1997.

AAP legislators Dr Baljit Kaur and Inderjit Kaur Mann alleged that the Opposition was opposed to the economic empowerment of women.

The resolution listed several schemes of the Bhagwant Mann government, including the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana, under which eligible women receive Rs 1,000 a month and Scheduled Caste women Rs 1,500. It claimed that more than 80 lakh women have registered under the scheme.

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It also highlighted the provision of up to 300 units of free domestic electricity a month, free power for agricultural tubewells and the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana, which provides annual health coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh per family.

According to the resolution, more than 90 per cent of households have received zero electricity bills under the domestic power subsidy since 2022. It cited 1,244 Aam Aadmi Clinics, which have treated more than two crore patients, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure.

Other initiatives listed included free bus travel for women, the Meri Rasoi Yojana, social security pensions of Rs 1,500 a month, the Ashirwad scheme for the marriages of eligible women and the Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra Yojana.
The resolution claimed that more than 40 lakh families receive essential food items every quarter under the Meri Rasoi Yojana, while around 30 lakh elderly people, widows, destitute persons and persons with disabilities receive social security pensions. Nearly seven lakh elderly people, it added, had undertaken free pilgrimages under the Tirath Yatra scheme.

Arguing that welfare assistance strengthens rather than undermines people’s dignity, the resolution said women, farmers and senior citizens deserved policies that enhanced their financial security and independence. It maintained that withdrawing the benefits would reduce the money available to households for food, education, healthcare and other essential expenses. “Those proposing their withdrawal must explain why a mother should lose her monthly assistance and why a household should again bear expenses from which it has received relief,” the resolution read.
It recommended that the state government continue the listed schemes, adding that beneficiaries should be able to access welfare as an entitlement rather than through political patronage.

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The resolution was passed by voice vote in the absence of Congress and BJP members. Ayali and BSP member Nachattar Pal were the only Opposition members present when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan put it to a vote.