The launch of the application process for one of the much-awaited guarantees, Gruha Lakshmi — which promises a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,000 for the women head in the family — is likely to be delayed by a few more days.
In a flip-flop on Thursday, while Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar announced in the morning that the scheme’s application launch would be on Friday, she retracted the statement a few hours later informing that the launch of applications would be delayed by “four to five days”.
“We have to have a smooth launch of the scheme that will also provide convenience to women to apply. The delay is only to make the scheme people-friendly as senior Ministers and officials felt that the existing infrastructure could create a rush physically at the centres,” Ms. Hebbalkar told presspersons during the post-Cabinet briefing here on Thursday. She said that as many as 1.28 crore beneficiaries were expected to apply for the benefits. “On average, we found that it would take about four to seven minutes to complete an application form.”
