In order to help women from low-income families—including trans women—who are not covered by any of the state’s social welfare programs, the Kerala government announced the introduction of a new Women’s Security Scheme on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made the news during a media briefing following the cabinet meeting.
The program would provide a monthly Women’s Security Pension of ₹1,000 to women in the AAY and PHH groups who are between the ages of 35 and 60 and do not currently receive any social assistance pension. The project, for which the government has set aside ₹3,800 crore a year, will help about 31.34 lakh women, according to the chief minister.
“The scheme is part of the government’s continuing efforts to strengthen social security and ensure dignity for all sections of women, including trans women,” stated the chief minister. Two additional significant initiatives were also accepted by the cabinet. The first is the launch of a “Connect to Work Scholarship” to assist young women and men in finding better jobs.
Financial support of ₹1,000 per month would be provided to youth between the ages of 18 and 30 from households earning less than ₹1 lakh annually who are enrolled in skill development courses following their Plus Two, ITI, diploma, or degree studies, or who are getting ready for competitive or career-oriented exams.
With ₹600 crore allocated each year for its execution, it is anticipated that this program will assist roughly five lakh young people. The establishment of a monthly operational stipend for Kudumbashree Area Development Societies throughout the state was the second significant announcement.
A monthly stipend of ₹1,000 will be given to each of the 19,470 ADS units to assist their community-level initiatives. This project will cost the government ₹23.4 crore annually.