New Delhi: Less than a year before the Punjab assembly elections, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday (July 1) launched the ‘Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojna’, a monthly financial assistance scheme for women. While rolling out the scheme, Mann said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fulfilled its final election guarantee that it had made ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, reported Press Trust of India.As per the newly-launched scheme, women from the general category will receive Rs 1,000 every month, while those belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category will receive Rs 1,500.“The ‘Satkar Raashi’ has started from July and it will pave the way for women empowerment. This is an ambitious scheme and we have launched it with complete planning to ensure that it continues permanently,” said Mann while launching the scheme on Wednesday.Terming the launch of the scheme as “historic”, Mann said that 40 lakh women have already been registered under the scheme.“The funds will be directly transferred to bank accounts and women who are already receiving social security pensions will also be eligible under the scheme. Around 97% of women in Punjab are expected to benefit and the state government has earmarked Rs 9,300 crore in the budget for this purpose,” said Mann.CM Mann also accused the opposition for “always targeting” his government over this scheme and said that following its implementation, their mouths will now be shut.“Women deserve the highest respect because they are the source of life itself. The blessings of our mothers and sisters can help us overcome every challenge in the world. Strengthening women’s financial autonomy is essential for improving household welfare, promoting gender equity and enhancing women’s participation in social and economic decision-making,” said the chief minister.The Punjab government on Wednesday released three monthly instalments of the scheme together. While women belonging to the general category received Rs 3,000, women from the SC category received Rs 4,500 in their bank accounts.The people who don’t come under the ambit of the cash transfer scheme include regular or retired employees of the Punjab government or the central government or any other state/UT government in the country, elected MLAs or MPs or the spouses of a serving minister, MP or MLA.