Lucknow: Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh is committed to women’s empowerment. The government is continuously implementing schemes to strengthen women economically, socially, and in terms of security.
In this direction, the Widow Pension Scheme is playing an important role. Under this scheme, financial assistance is being provided to more than 40.32 lakh widowed women in the state.
Through this scheme, the state government is directly reaching out to those women who face livelihood challenges after the death of their husbands. Under this Women Welfare Department scheme, a total of 40,32,629 women in the state have benefited.
The pension is released in four installments throughout the year, with payments made every three months. These include the installments for April-June, July-September, October-December, and January-March.
In 2021, a major decision was taken to increase the pension amount from ₹500 to ₹1,000. This amount is directly transferred to beneficiaries’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through PFMS, ensuring transparency.
According to data, before 2016-17, about 17.31 lakh women were benefiting from the scheme, whereas now the number has increased to over 40.32 lakh. This expansion shows that the government is consistently connecting more and more needy women to the scheme.
Only those women are eligible under the scheme who are permanent residents of Uttar Pradesh, whose husbands have passed away, who are above 18 years of age, and whose family’s annual income is less than ₹2,00,000.
In this regard, Director of the Women Welfare Directorate, Dr. Vandana Verma, said, “The state government is working with full commitment towards the overall empowerment of women. The government’s objective is to ensure that no eligible woman is deprived of the scheme.”
She also added that the scheme is not limited to financial assistance alone, but also motivates women to become self-reliant and live a life with dignity.
