Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan da Satkar Yojana: Punjab’s Cash-Transfer Scheme for Women

The scheme

• Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan da Satkar Yojana is Punjab’s monthly cash scheme for women.
• CM Bhagwant Mann announced it on 8 March 2026, in the 2026-27 budget speech.
• Money goes by Direct Benefit Transfer to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

Two rates

• General-category women get ₹1,000 a month.
• Scheduled Caste women get ₹1,500 a month.

Pilot first

• The scheme began as a pilot in nine assembly constituencies.
• Later payment figures show it has grown well beyond those nine seats.

Scale

• Minister Aman Arora called it “the world’s biggest cash transfer scheme” for women. That is his claim, not an audited fact.
• About 97% of Punjab’s women qualify under current rules.
• ₹9,300 crore was sanctioned in the 2026-27 budget.

Companions

• CM Mann also announced free bus travel and free electricity.

Timing

• Punjab’s next assembly election is due in early 2027.
• So this scheme comes less than a year before voters decide.

The nine pilot constituencies

• Adampur, Anandpur Sahib, Batala, Patiala Rural, Malout, Moga, Kotkapura, Dirba and Sunam.
• AAP, led by Bhagwant Mann, has governed Punjab since 2022.

Launch and first payment

• Mann formally launched it at Adampur on 14 April 2026, on Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
• Registration opened the next day in the nine pilot constituencies.
• On 1 July 2026, Punjab paid April, May and June together.
• General-category women got ₹3,000. Scheduled Caste women got ₹4,500.

The second instalment

• Mann released ₹1,262 crore to 36.87 lakh women.
• It covered October, November and December.
• The first round had been ₹2,562 crore.
• Total paid so far: ₹3,824 crore.
• Such a large first round shows the scheme had grown far beyond the nine pilot seats.

Who signs women up

• Registration helpers are called “satkar sakhis”.
• About 1.37 lakh of them were paid ₹51 crore for registering women.
• The government’s target is one crore women.
• Mann warned that rival parties would stop these benefits if elected.

Why tiering is unusual

• Most state schemes pay one flat rate.
• Haryana’s Lado Lakshmi pays ₹2,100 to all eligible women.
• Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna is also flat.
• To see why caste matters here, read Caste as a Tool of Social Stratification.

Latest position

• The first payment came on 1 July 2026.
• It covered April, May and June.
• The second instalment came in early October 2026, at Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran.
• It covered October, November and December.