With the next state assembly elections just less than a year away now, the Punjab Government has finally paved way for enhancing the amount under Ashirwad Scheme from Rs 21,000 to Rs 51,000 — fulfilling the Congress party’s another key poll promise.
The state Cabinet, in its virtual meeting, approved the hike in financial assistance under the Ashirwad Scheme to Rs 51,000 per beneficiary, with directions to clear all payment backlog under the scheme. Payments till December 2020 have already been cleared under the scheme.
The decision is set to benefit 60,000 beneficiaries, putting an additional burden of Rs 180 crore on the state exchequer.
The latest increase comes into effect from July 1, 2021, an official spokesperson said after a virtual meeting. This is the second hike in the scheme amount by the present government, which had earlier enhanced the assistance from Rs 15,000 to Rs 21,000 soon after it took over in 2017, while renaming the Shagun scheme as Ashirward scheme.
