On Friday, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet approved a new scheme for women in the state.
It is called the Mukhya Mantri Apna Parivar Sukhi Parivar Yojna.
Eligible women aged 18 to 59 will receive ₹1,500 every month.
Eligible families will also get 300 units of free electricity each month.
One unit is one kilowatt-hour, the measure used on an electricity bill.
So far, 3.5 lakh women have been identified, which means 350,000 people.
Graphic: News Anek, from the facts in this report
Key points
- Eligible women aged 18 to 59 will get ₹1,500 a month.
- Eligible families get 300 units of free electricity every month.
- A total of 3.5 lakh beneficiaries have been identified so far.
- The cabinet also approved water rates, a sports campaign and bus subsidies.
Who can get the money?
Officials said the state government ran a survey in different phases.
It identified people from economically weaker sections across the state.
The gram sabhas, which are village-level bodies, then approved the list of beneficiaries.
What else did the cabinet decide?
The cabinet set a uniform rate for selling surplus raw water. The starting rate is ₹100 per 1,000 cubic feet.
It will be revised over time, based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which tracks wholesale prices.
The cabinet also launched the Khelo Himachal Chitta Mukt Abhiyan-2026 in all 12 districts.
It aims to engage youth in sports and prevent drug use.
In the power sector, the cabinet cancelled allotment of 222 solar projects.
The reason given was that they had not been implemented for a long time.
It also cancelled 13 hydro projects above 25 MW and will re-bid 20 projects.
The cabinet raised the subsidy on diesel buses from 30% to 40% under a 2023 self-employment scheme.
It also approved 561 posts of junior office assistant (IT) for medical and dental colleges.
What happens next?
These decisions have been approved by the cabinet.
The sources do not give a start date for the scheme or the other decisions.
Explainer
What happened before
- The state government ran a survey in different phases to find eligible people.
- The people identified are from economically weaker sections across the state, and gram sabhas approved them.
- The cabinet has now amended the Swaran Jayanti Energy Policy, which dates from 2021.
Why it matters
The scheme gives a monthly cash amount and free power to many families, so it affects a large group of households in the state.
What to watch next
- The sources do not give a start date for the scheme or the other decisions.
