Just weeks ahead of Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday announced Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana ahead of Delhi assembly elections. This is the third major scheme announced by the government after Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjivini Yojana.
Former chief minister of Delhi and party convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “The name of the scheme Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana. Under this scheme, there is provision to provide honorarium for their services. They will be provided Rs 18000 per month.”
He said that he will begin the registration at Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place after which the party workers and MLAs will reach out to temples and Gurudwaras in the city to register the pujaris and granthis for the scheme.
The scheme will be implemented if AAP comes back in power in the national capital.
In 2019, the government announced a similar move for mosque imams in Delhi and increased their salaries.
As per the announcement, the salaries of imams were increased from Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 18,000 per month. The decision was applicable on 185 mosques in the national capital that come under the Delhi Waqf Board.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had termed the move as violation of Model Code of Conduct. The party criticized the increment and said the move was aimed at ‘appeasing’ the minority community.
Earlier, the government announced two schemes including Sanjivini Yojana and Mahila Samman Yojana under which all the senior citizens will get free medical treatment in all the hospitals of the city and women will get Rs 2100 monthly, respectively.
The Delhi Assembly polls are due to be held in February 2025. However, the Election Commission has not announced the dates of the polls.
The AAP is seeking to retain power in the national capital for the third term in 2025 after the electoral success in 2015 when the party won 67 seats out of 70. In the last Delhi Assembly elections which were held in 2020, AAP won a landslide victory and secured 63 of the 70 seats.
