The Delhi government’s Women and Child Development and Health departments on Wednesday issued public notices clarifying that they are not associated with the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) proposed initiatives to provide Rs 2,100 to women and offer free healthcare for senior citizens. This announcement has sparked controversy ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

The notices warned the public against sharing personal information under the pretense of registering for “non-existent” schemes, emphasizing that any individual or political party collecting such information is acting fraudulently and without proper authorization.

This announcement followed a recent registration campaign led by AAP leaders for the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjeevani Yojana, which has left AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal angry.

Kejriwal accused the BJP of being unsettled by these programs, suggesting that Chief Minister Atishi might be targeted with a “fake” legal case in the near future. “They are completely rattled by the Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjeevani Yojana. They have devised a scheme to fabricate a case against Chief Minister Atishi and arrest her soon,” he asserted on X, alleging that raids would also be conducted against senior AAP officials prior to Atishi’s potential arrest.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj claimed on Tuesday that she had spoken with the health secretary of the Delhi government, who confirmed that no Sanjeevani Yojna currently exists.

Both schemes were announced by Kejriwal in advance of the Assembly polls scheduled for February next year, with AAP actively promoting the registration process. Party leaders are optimistic that these initiatives will attract voters, as similar programs have reportedly helped ruling parties maintain power in various state elections.

The notice from the Department of Women and Child Development stated: “Media reports and social media posts have brought to our attention that a political party is claiming to provide Rs 2,100 per month under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana to women in Delhi. It is clarified that no such scheme has been officially announced by the Government of Delhi.”

The department indicated that should the scheme be initiated, a digital portal would be created for eligible individuals to apply online according to established guidelines. The notice further stated that since no such scheme exists, there is no basis for any physical registration forms.

It also cautioned the public that sharing personal information—such as PAN account numbers, phone numbers, or Voter IDs—in connection with this non-existent scheme could expose them to various crimes, including cyber and banking fraud. Individuals were advised to disregard any misleading claims about the scheme and to be vigilant about sharing personal details.

The Mahila Samman Yojna was proposed in the AAP’s budget for 2024-25 to grant Rs 1,000 per month to eligible women over the age of 18 in Delhi. Kejriwal has recently pledged to increase this amount to Rs 2,100 if AAP is re-elected.

The Health and Family Department also issued a notice warning about the purported Sanjeevani Yojna, which was meant to provide free medical treatment for senior citizens over 60 at both government and private hospitals. The notice revealed that some political volunteers had begun a door-to-door campaign to collect information from elderly residents for this scheme, providing them with documents described as “Health/Sanjeevani Scheme Cards.”

The notice indicated that these volunteers were requesting personal details such as phone numbers, addresses, Aadhar numbers, and bank account information. Many elderly citizens had begun inquiring about the scheme at government hospitals and offices.

The Health and Family Department reiterated that there is currently no recognized “Sanjeevani Yojna” and emphasised that no individuals or political parties have been authorized to gather personal information from seniors on behalf of this scheme.

Delhi Metro services will begin at 2:30 pm from terminal stations on all lines on the occasion of Holi, March 25, and will continue normally thereafter.

The Delhi Metro on X, said that the metro train services to start at 2:30 pm on the day of the Holi festival, March 25 (Monday), adding that it said metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

Earlier on March 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The cost of these 2 corridors of the Delhi Metro Phase 4 project is Rs 8,399 crore. These 2 lines will be 20.762 km long. The construction of these projects is slated for completion by March 2026.

During the press release, the government said that the Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will be an extension of the Green Line and will provide interchange with the Blue, Violet, Magenta and Airport Line, Yellow and Red lines, while the Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will connect Violet, Pink, Magenta and Silver lines.

Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will be entirely elevated and have 8 stations, as per the reports. The Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will have 10 stations. The Prime Minister also interacted with beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme. He distributed loans under the scheme to 1 lakh street vendors (SVs) including 5000 SVs from Delhi.

According to official records, till now up to Rs 82 lakh loans which amount to Rs 10, 978 crore have been disbursed to more than 62 lakh street vendors all over India. Speaking to the media at the event earlier, the Prime Minister said that the program PM SVANidhi Mahotsav was dedicated to those who are always around us and without whom one cannot imagine our lives.

Seven out of eight Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were suspended on Friday for the remainder of the Budget session of the Delhi Assembly for allegedly interrupting Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena’s address.

On Thursday, they were marshalled out of the House for their unruly behaviour. According to the reports, the seven BJP MLAs were interrupting Governor Saxena during his address to the House as they sought to attack the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led-AAP government.

Taking cognisance of the matter, the Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel sent the matter of disruption to the Privileges Committee.

On the second day of the session, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dilip Kumar Pandey and the party convenor Kejriwal whip in the Assembly. Pandey pointed out the disruption made by the BJP MLAs during the LG’s speech, he said MLAs have disrupted Saxena’s address marking the opening of the budget session at least eight times. He further said that such behaviour by the BJP MLAs amounted to lowering the dignity of the House.

AAP MLA Pandey, later moved a proposal that the matter be referred to the Delhi Assembly Privileges Committee, demanding the suspension of the seven BJP MLAs from the proceedings of the House, until the panel decides on the matter. Through a voice vote, the proposal was passed.

Despite several warnings from the Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, BJP Vijender Gupta interrupted Saxena while he was citing the AAP’s achievements. Following this, the Speaker asked the House marshals to take Gupta out.

Later, when LG Saxena began his address, other leaders from the BJP party continued disrupting him as Saxena cited several Kejriwal government’s achievements.

After all this, the BJP MLAs defied the Goel and refrained from interrupting the Saxena’s address, to which the Speaker had to ask the marshals to take them out of the House too.

The House suspended seven BJP MLAs out of eight, the Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was not suspended, however, he walked out with other suspended BJP leaders in protest against the decision of the House to suspend its MLAs.