While the Rekha Gupta government’s “historic” Rs 1 lakh crore budget has seen a substantial rise in allocations aimed at gender equality and women development, a closer look reveals cuts in crucial welfare schemes for girl students, maternal healthcare, nutrition schemes and anganwadi programmes.
The issue of welfare schemes was a significant poll plank for the three parties in the fray – the BJP, AAP and Congress. The new budget has seen a 31.5 percent rise in total allocations, with the BJP government allocating Rs 11,495 crore for schemes aimed at empowering women as compared to the Rs 7,193 crore allocated during the previous financial year.
But how does it impact schemes across various sectors?
Boost for financial assistance, transport subsidies
The allocation for Delhi’s flagship financial assistance scheme for women, the Mahila Samriddhi Scheme (earlier called the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana under the AAP government), rose to Rs 5,110 crore from Rs 2,000 crore. The BJP had promised to provide Rs 2,500 to women from poor families through this scheme in their electoral manifesto for the Delhi assembly elections 2025.
However, only women with a household income below Rs 3 lakh per year and non-taxpayers will be eligible for the Rs 2,500 grant from the Delhi government. As per The Indian Express, the grant under the scheme will be available only to women aged 18 to 60 who do not hold government jobs and are not receiving any other government financial assistance. The government estimates that around 15-20 lakh women would be eligible for the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana.
Funding for DTC and cluster buses subsidies for female commuters rose to Rs 440 crore in 2025-2026 from Rs 340 crore in 2024-2025. The Women Helpline also received a 40.5 percent boost in allocation, which increased to Rs 10.4 crore from Rs 7.4 crore.
Additionally, funding for One Stop Centres grew from Rs 5.06 crore to Rs 20 crore. OSCs are a part of the Nirbhaya Fund initiative where government-run facilities provide integrated support to women facing violence. Support includes medical aid, legal assistance, temporary shelter, police support and psychosocial counseling.
Cuts in girl students’ welfare
There has been a sharp reduction of 92.28 percent in the funding under the general education section of the gender budget that received only Rs 2.26 crore when compared to Rs 29.3 crore in 2024-25. Schemes under this include free transport for rural girl students, menstrual hygiene support under the Kishori Yojana Scheme, and self-defence training to girl students under the Rani Laxmi Bai Atma Raksha Parikshan.
Last year, Rs 4 crore was allocated for the free transport scheme for rural girl students but only Rs 1 lakh was spent. Under the free transport scheme, DTC buses operate in seven villages across North West A, North West B, and South West B districts to help rural girls continue their education. This year, the allocation has been reduced to Rs 1 lakh.
Similarly, menstrual hygiene, or Kishori Yojana, support saw an allocation of Rs 23 crore last year, but only Rs 24.3 lakh was utilised. This year, the budget stands at Rs 25.3 lakh. Kishori Yojana focuses on menstrual health by providing sanitary napkins and conducting hygiene workshops in government schools.
In contrast, revised estimates indicate that Rs 2 crore was spent last year for the Rani Laxmi Bai scheme and this year’s allocation is the same amount. The Rani Laxmi Bai scheme offers self-defense training to elementary and secondary school girls, equipping them with skills to handle threats, build confidence, and improve physical endurance.
Drop in allocation for nutrition schemes
The overall nutrition budget has been cut by 68.31 percent, dropping from Rs 300.5 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 95.2 crore in 2025-26. This sharp reduction affects key nutrition schemes, including Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, Additional Diet under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-Poshan).
The Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-Poshan) scheme has been allocated Rs 10.22 crore this year, a sharp drop from last year’s Rs 182 crore, despite revised estimates indicating Rs 29.54 crore was spent.
Mitali Nikore, an economist and policy specialist and the founder of youth-led research group Nikore Associates, said there is a rising trend within BJP states towards direct-benefit transfer reliant on the digital public infrastructure. “This is an alternative way of ensuring government subsidies public service delivery – the evidence is not clear on whether publicly provided or privately provided services work better.”
Anganwadi helpers and workers hit
The gender budget allocated under the honorarium to anganwadi helpers and workers under the Directorate of Women and Child Development has been reduced from Rs 221 crore to Rs 206 crore in the current budget.
This allocation has fluctuated over the years. It saw a sharp rise from Rs 145 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 210 crore in 2022-23 (44.83 percent increase), followed by a marginal rise to Rs 211 crore in 2023-24 (0.48 percent increase). However, in the latest budget (2024-25), the allocation has been cut to Rs 206 crore, marking a 6.79 percent decrease from last year.
“This will possibly lead to reduced appointments of Anganwadi workers and helpers,” said Nikore.
Maternity care slashed
The budgetary allocation for the Shri Dada Dev Matri Avum Shishu Chikitsalaya, a Delhi hospital operating under the Directorate of Health Services, has been drastically reduced to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 1 crore. It is a 112-bed hospital located in Dabri, providing comprehensive maternal and child health services. According to the Delhi government website, it is the only hospital of its kind under the Government of NCT of Delhi, dedicated exclusively to maternal and child care. The website says that every thirtieth baby in Delhi is born in this hospital.
New schemes launched
The budget has introduced a new scheme, the Mukhyamantri Matru Vandana Yojana, with an allocation of Rs 210 crore for 2025-26. Under this, the government has promised to provide Rs 21,000 to pregnant women for maternal health support.
It has also introduced a scheme called Mukhya Mantri Digital Education Scheme – ICT Equipments, allocating Rs 7.5 crore to provide free laptops to meritorious female students of class 12.
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