Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Gangtok: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang announced a major expansion of the Aama Sashaktikaran Yojana on Monday, August 10. By 2027, the state will provide financial aid to 50,000 mothers. Each woman will collect Rs 40,000 annually. This cash arrives in two Rs 20,000 installments via the State Bank of Sikkim.
The scheme currently supports 32,000 mothers. It targets non-working, unmarried, widowed, divorced, and separated women aged 18 to 59. The total annual cost will hit Rs 200 crore after the expansion. Tamang revealed the plans at the second Aama Samman Diwas at Rangpo Playground, held alongside the ninth Jan Unmukti Diwas.
New awards will also debut. The Aama Samman Puraskar gives Rs 51,000 to one woman in each of the 32 Assembly constituencies. The Pragatisheel Aama Puraskar rewards the top three mothers who used their aid wisely with Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, and Rs 2 lakh. Tamang told the crowd he attended “not as Chief Minister but as a son”.
He defended the program against past critics who claimed it was merely a vote-buying tactic before the 2024 elections. Tamang insisted the ongoing payments prove the government kept its promise. He credited the expansion to his deep respect for mattri shakti, or the power of mothers, noting that the struggles of his own year in prison paled in comparison to the daily sacrifices mothers make.
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