Mawan Dheeyan Yojana, Punjab’s flagship cash-support scheme for women, has run into a legal challenge after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the diversion of funds from the state’s construction workers’ welfare corpus into the scheme. The order marks a jolt to the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government just weeks after it began transferring money to beneficiaries.
What did the High Court order on Mawan Dheeyan Yojana funding?
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday stayed the diversion of funds from the construction workers’ welfare corpus to other schemes, including the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana. Advocate HC Arora, who represented the petitioners, said after the hearing that the court had stayed diversion of funds for any scheme from the workers’ welfare fund, including Mawan Dheeyan Yojana, and had sought responses from the Centre and the state government by the adjourned date. The detailed order was awaited at the time of the hearing.
The petition was filed by the Dr Ambedkar Workers Union, a Patiala-based body, which sought a stay on the fund diversion and also demanded that any money already diverted be transferred back into the workers’ welfare corpus.
What is Punjab’s Mawan Dheeyan Yojana scheme?
Mawan Dheeyan Yojana itself was announced by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema in his budget speech on March 8, 2026, with an outlay of Rs 9,300 crore earmarked for the scheme. Launched on July 1, 2026, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, it provides Rs 1,000 a month to eligible women in the general category and Rs 1,500 a month to women from the Scheduled Caste category. On launch day, the government credited three months of assistance in a single instalment, transferring Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,500 respectively into beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The government has said around 40 lakh women had registered at that stage, out of an estimated 1.02 crore eligible women aged 18 and above.
Why do documents say the BOCW Board acted ‘in haste’?
Documents accessed by Hindustan Times show that the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board appeared to have cleared the proposal to fund Mawan Dheeyan Yojana in haste, with the proposal getting the board’s nod and its approval order being issued on the very same day, June 6.
According to the documents, the board’s 31st meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in his capacity as ex-officio chairman, was held on June 6. At this meeting, the board approved adopting the scheme, which allows it to transfer welfare funds to the department of women and child development and social security so that eligible female construction workers and their family members can receive benefits.
The meeting notice itself stated that the agenda would be circulated only during the meeting, a departure from the usual practice of sharing it with members beforehand. Documents further show that the order approving the scheme was issued the same day the meeting was held, raising questions about how thoroughly the proposal was examined before clearance.
The minutes of the meeting record: “After detailed discussion, the board approved the adoption of the scheme for those beneficiaries of the board, i.e. female workers or female members of workers’ families (wherever eligible as per the scheme’s eligibility conditions). All benefits shall be processed through the nodal department, i.e. the department of women and child development and social security, and the board can directly transfer the funds to the department.“
The board has not explained why it found it necessary to adopt Mawan Dheeyan Yojana separately when female construction workers and eligible members of their families were already covered under the state government’s original scheme design.
Manvesh Sidhu, Principal Secretary, Labour Department, defended the process when questioned about the same-day approval on a matter not listed on the meeting’s agenda. “There is nothing wrong with this. Moreover, some issues are brought up during the meeting and approvals are given after discussion,” he said.
What are labour unions and petitioners arguing?
Sardara Singh, President of the Dr Ambedkar Workers Union, Punjab, who filed the petition challenging the board’s decision, said: “This has been done to divert labour welfare funds by the state government. It is completely illegal. We will not allow this to happen at any cost.“
The petition claims the BOCW Welfare Board was reconstituted by the labour department on March 16 under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and that it was this reconstituted board that approved the fund transfer. The petitioners argue this reconstitution itself was flawed because the 1996 Act now stands repealed and merged into the Code on Social Security, 2020, which took effect from November 21, 2025.
On this basis, the petition contends that “decisions taken by the newly reconstituted workers’ welfare board are ipso facto illegal and without jurisdiction,” and that the fund transfer for Mawan Dheeyan Yojana “amounts to total misuse of the funds,” contrary to a Supreme Court judgment holding that workers’ welfare funds cannot be used for purposes other than those permitted under the 1996 Act, now the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Labour rights activist Vijay Walia separately questioned the legality of the move, citing Section 7(6)(i) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, under which state governments cannot introduce new welfare measures for building and construction workers unless such measures are prescribed or approved by the central government. He argued that funds collected under construction workers’ welfare legislation form a dedicated corpus that cannot be diverted beyond its permitted purposes.
The petition additionally alleges that in January 2026, the board reduced the monthly pension payable to registered construction workers, the very group the fund is meant to serve. And while making certain payments from the welfare fund only to registered female construction workers, which the petition says discriminates between male and female beneficiaries.
How does this fit Punjab’s track record on welfare fund use?
This is not the first time the BOCW board’s spending has drawn scrutiny. In 2021, the Punjab BOCW Welfare Board spent Rs 4.59 crore to procure Covid-19 vaccines for registered construction workers, an amount that was subsequently reimbursed to the board.
Will payments under Mawan Dheeyan Yojana stop?
For the roughly 40 lakh women who had registered under Mawan Dheeyan Yojana at the time of the July 1 disbursal, the immediate practical question is whether their monthly Rs 1,000 or Rs 1,500 will continue to arrive.
This HC order means that for most registered women, payments credited through the regular Direct Benefit Transfer route are not automatically affected by the stay order, at least until the detailed order is published and the Centre and state file their responses. However, women who fall specifically within the BOCW board’s beneficiary category, that is, registered female construction workers or eligible female members of a registered worker’s family, may see their benefits under this particular channel paused or delayed until the High Court decides whether the fund transfer was lawful.
It is also important to note that the court has only stayed the diversion for now; it has not passed a final ruling declaring the fund transfer illegal, and the state government has not yet issued any public clarification on how disbursals will proceed while the case is pending.