Chandigarh: The Punjab Government has prioritised women’s empowerment and social welfare in the budget for the financial year 2026-27. Presenting the budget on the occasion of International Women’s Day, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced several major initiatives aimed at supporting women and weaker sections of society.
The most significant announcement was the launch of the ‘Mukh Mantri Mawan-Dhian Satkar Yojana’. Under the scheme, all adult women in Punjab will receive ₹1,000 per month, while women belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) will receive ₹1,500 per month. The financial assistance will be transferred directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
According to the finance minister, the scheme will cover nearly 97% of women in the state and is being described as one of the largest universal cash transfer programmes. The government has earmarked ₹9,300 crore for the scheme in the budget. Government employees, income-tax payers and current or former MPs and MLAs have been excluded from the scheme.
The government has also decided to continue the free bus travel facility for women. Around 12 crore journeys were made by women using the service last year, and ₹600 crore has been allocated for the scheme in the current budget.
Under the ‘Navi Disha Yojana’, about 13.65 lakh women and girls are being provided free sanitary pads as part of hygiene and health awareness programmes. The budget for this initiative has been increased to ₹65 crore.
For maternal and child welfare, the state is operating 27,314 anganwadi centres across 155 blocks, benefiting around 16.60 lakh children and mothers with nutrition, vaccination and pre-school education services. The government has allocated ₹932 crore for the functioning of these centres.
The budget also includes ₹6,150 crore for social security pensions covering elderly persons, widows, destitute children and persons with disabilities. In total, around 36.52 lakh beneficiaries will receive monthly financial assistance.
Overall, ₹18,304 crore has been proposed for social justice and welfare programmes, including ₹360 crore for the Ashirwad scheme, ₹261 crore for post-matric scholarships and ₹17,700 crore under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, which accounts for 35.23% of the total development expenditure.
The budget is being seen as a major push to make women economically self-reliant and bring marginalised sections into the mainstream, though political observers say it also carries a clear focus on welfare ahead of the next assembly elections.
