The Delhi government’s Department of Health, in addition to its Department for Women and Child Development, have distanced themselves from two welfare schemes announced by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party ahead of Assembly elections in the capital next year, reported The Indian Express on Wednesday.
The schemes include monthly payments of Rs 2,100 to women and free medical treatment for the elderly. The Aam Aadmi Party has begun registering prospective beneficiaries for both.
However, the government departments responsible for disbursing the schemes have now claimed that the collection of citizens’ personal information for either scheme, by any private individual or political party, is “fraudulent and without any authority”.
Responding to this development during a press conference on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of pressuring officers of the state government to issue the notices distancing themselves from the welfare schemes. She also said that administrative and police action would be taken against the officers involved in issuing the notices.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Amendment Act, notified in August last year, effectively gives the BJP-led Union government the power to appoint civil servants in Delhi.
On December 12, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal announced that the Delhi Cabinet had approved the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana to provide Rs 1,000 per month to women above the age of 18. The former chief minister promised that the amount would be increased to Rs 2,100 per month if the Aam Aadmi Party retains power in the national capital.
Kejriwal had said that registrations for the scheme would begin on December 13, but clarified that the money would not be credited to women’s bank accounts immediately as Assembly elections were likely to be announced soon.
About a week later, Kejriwal promised free medical treatment for all senior citizens residing in Delhi under the Sanjeevani Yojana if his party retained power. On December 18, he said that Aam Aadmi Party volunteers would visit homes to register eligible senior citizens for the scheme, which would be implemented after the Assembly polls.
The elections in Delhi are expected to take place in or before February. The Election Commission has not announced the schedule yet.
In a public notice on Friday, the joint director of Delhi’s Department of Women and Child Development stated: “A political party is claiming to disburse Rs 2,100 per month under Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana to women in Delhi. It is clarified that no such scheme has been notified by the Government of Delhi.”
“If and when the scheme begins, the department will launch a digital portal for eligible individuals to submit their applications online as per the approved guidelines,” it added.
Calling the promises “misleading”, the department also cautioned Delhi residents against sharing their personal details and sensitive information like PAN account numbers, phone numbers or voter identification numbers.
The Health and Family Department issued a similar public notice stating that there is no such “Sanjeevani scheme” notified by the Delhi government.
“Any private individual/political party collecting such physical forms/ applications or collecting information of applicants under the name of ‘Sanjeevani Yojna’ is fraudulent and without any authority,” read the notice.
After the notices were published, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of “leading people of Delhi towards a digital fraud”, reported ANI.
“There is an Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and their own department is issuing a warning to the public that no such scheme exists,” Sachdeva was quoted as saying. “Arvind Kejriwal is cheating the people of Delhi.”
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also described the schemes as fraudulent. “Calling people to register for the schemes appears to be a way of collecting data so that they can be contacted ahead of the elections,” Dikshit told ANI.
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