Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala government on Wednesday announced the launch of a new Women's Security Scheme aimed at providing financial support to women from poor families, including trans women, who are not covered under any existing social welfare programme.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while briefing the media after the cabinet meeting.
Under the scheme, women aged between 35 and 60 years belonging to the AAY (yellow card) and PHH (priority category — pink card) groups, who are not currently receiving any social welfare pension, will be granted a monthly Women's Security Pension of Rs 1,000.
The chief minister said around 31.34 lakh women will benefit from the initiative, for which the government has earmarked Rs 3,800 crore annually.
"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," the chief minister said.
In addition, the cabinet approved two other major measures.
The first is the introduction of a ‘Connect to Work Scholarship’ to help young men and women secure better employment opportunities.
Youth aged between 18 and 30 years from families with an annual income below Rs 1 lakh, who are pursuing skill development courses after Plus Two, ITI, diploma, or degree studies, or preparing for competitive or job-oriented examinations, will receive Rs 1,000 per month as financial assistance.
About five lakh young people are expected to benefit from this programme, with Rs 600 crore set aside annually for its implementation.
The second major announcement was the introduction of a monthly operational grant for Kudumbashree Area Development Societies (ADSs) across the state.
Each of the 19,470 ADS units will receive Rs 1,000 per month as a grant to support their community-level activities. The government will spend Rs 23.4 crore per year on this initiative.
