Forty-eight hours after its Sikh MLAs sat with folded hands before the Akal Takht, the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government will launch its flagship women’s financial aid initiative, the “Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana”, from the Chief Minister’s home turf of Dhuri tomorrow.Every woman in every household is expected to get Rs 1,000 per month — Rs 1,500 in the case of women from the Scheduled Castes. The scheme is projected to cover nearly 97 per cent of adult women in Punjab.The scheme not only takes a leaf from PM Narendra Modi’s women-centric financial guarantees, but is also expected to distract from the video controversy in which CM Mann found himself on the eve of the Akal Takht summons.Of the nearly 44 lakh women registered so far, approximately 32 lakh will receive a lump-sum, three-month instalment directly into their bank accounts on July 1. The remaining beneficiaries will receive their dues in a phased manner.This initial three-month payout is estimated to cost the exchequer Rs 1,546.50 crore. A massive, women-only rally has been organised in Dhuri to mark the launch. AAP’s women legislators and the Chief Minister’s wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur, are slated to attend the event, for which the Punjab Government has finalised all administrative arrangements.Sources said in a coordinated move, text messages confirming the credit of the Satkar allowance would be broadcast to millions of mobile phones tomorrow afternoon.Sources disclosed that the funds will be transferred and the SMS alerts dispatched simultaneously during the event so that the phones of attendees ring in unison, creating a collective acoustic alert.Enrolment for the scheme, which opened on April 13, saw a massive surge toward the deadline.Total registrations reached 44.41 lakh — comprising 14.28 lakh SC beneficiaries and 30.13 lakh from the general category. Proving the intense last-minute rush, 8.99 lakh women enrolled in the final five days of June alone, pushing the total up from 35.42 lakh recorded on June 26.Patiala and Muktsar districts recorded the highest enrolment numbers. The first-phase disbursement of Rs 1,546.50 crore allocates Rs 642.60 crore for SC beneficiaries and Rs 903.90 crore for general category recipients.The state has earmarked Rs 9,300 crore for women’s welfare in its 2026-27 Budget. Given the upcoming polls, political analysts view the scheme as a massive voter-outreach drive by ruling AAP.Predictably, Opposition parties have slammed the timing, demanding instead that the government clear pending dues owed to women over the last four years.To target the aid effectively, certain high-income segments have been excluded from the scheme. Serving and retired government employees, income tax payers, as well as current and former lawmakers (MPs and MLAs) are ineligible.Out of Punjab’s estimated 1.01 crore women over the age of 18, those already receiving existing social security pensions will be allowed to draw this new honorarium as an additional benefit.