Rally in Kerala: Opposition LDF protests non-payment of benefits under Sthree Suraksha scheme

Kerala Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan | Photo credit: Nirmal Harindran

The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Monday registered its protest at a rally in Kerala against non-payment of monthly pension to unemployed women and transwomen under the Sthree Suraksha scheme after the United Democratic Front (UDF) government took over.

Although Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan rejected his announcement of an adjournment motion on the matter, the LDF decided to continue participating in the proceedings after Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan formally flagged the opposition’s protest against the usual practice of holding a strike.

The Speaker refused to entertain the adjournment motion based on Chief Minister VD Satheesan’s explanation that the government can proceed with the scheme only after examining the beneficiary lists. Mr Satheesan claimed that the previous LDF government had introduced it at the end of its tenure, just before the 2026 assembly elections.

“An amount of ₹1,770 crore has been allocated in the budget for this scheme. We have not decided to end the scheme just because it was introduced by the previous government. There were several complaints about the list of beneficiaries, especially that it was prepared without any field checks. No committee has been set up in any local body to check whether it will continue, before selecting the beneficiaries who were selected by the local grievances, we will have a choice of areas that the local the party has selected. the scheme,” said the Chief Minister.

Unfair Government Attitude: Vijayan

Mr Vijayan said it was “unfair” on the part of the government to take “such an attitude towards women”.

“The Chief Minister is still not clarifying whether the government will continue the scheme. The allegation that the selection of beneficiaries was political is false as the online application could have been submitted by anyone. Most applications came from Malappuram district, followed by Palakkad. Verification was done in a transparent manner by the local bodies and also by integrating the scheme applications with government systems including K-SHAAR card system, SPAR pension system, AAD Treasury and birth and death database to ensure that applicants will not draw any other benefits from the government and that they are AAY, BPL card holders,” said Mr. Vijayan.

Mr. Vijayan said that in the first two weeks, around 14 million applications were received through the portal, of which 10 million applicants were found eligible after verification. The scheme currently has 16 million beneficiaries and a further 5 million pending applications where no action has been taken.

CPI(M) MLA AC Moideen, who along with CPI MLA K Rajan and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA PK Praveen, moved the adjournment motion, said no other state had implemented a welfare scheme by “appreciating domestic work” done by women. He said the LDF government had earmarked ₹3,720 crore for the program in its budget earlier this year.

“The implementation of the scheme started in October 2025, not just before the elections. The beneficiaries were even from the UDF-run local bodies after vetting by the all-party committees,” he said.

Published – June 29, 2026 12:19 PM IST