The YSR Congress Party has strongly condemned Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for abandoning his election promises to women, stating that his true character has once again been exposed. Even while celebrating two years of his government, he has dealt another blow to women by effectively shelving the promised “Aadabidda Nidhi” scheme.

Before the elections, Chandrababu Naidu promised that every woman above the age of 18 and below 60 would receive Rs. 1,500 per month under the Aadabidda Nidhi scheme. This was not merely an election promise—it was publicised through meetings, manifesto commitments, door-to-door campaigns, and even signed guarantee bonds distributed to voters. Detailed calculations were presented to every household showing the financial benefits they would receive if the coalition came to power.

However, two years after assuming office, not a single rupee has been credited to women’s accounts. Instead of implementing the scheme, the government has now admitted that it cannot fulfil the promise. This amounts to a betrayal of the trust, aspirations, and economic security of millions of women who voted believing these assurances.

The YSRCP stated that Chandrababu Naidu has no moral authority to speak about women’s empowerment after deceiving women for electoral gain. Women voted for the coalition believing its promises, but they became the first victims of its betrayal.

The party alleged that the coalition government has repeatedly proven that its promises were merely political bait to secure votes. While failure to fulfil a promise reflects incompetence, knowingly misleading people for electoral benefit represents a complete collapse of political credibility.

YSRCP asserted that women across Andhra Pradesh will never forget this betrayal. Chandrababu Naidu sought votes through written guarantees and signed commitments but abandoned them after assuming power. The party demanded that legal action be initiated against him for misleading the public and betraying the promises made to women.

Two Years of broken promises to Women

The coalition government has severely undermined women’s empowerment over the last two years.

The government discontinued several flagship welfare and self-employment programmes introduced under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, including YSR Asara, YSR Cheyutha, Kapu Nestham, EBC Nestham, Zero Interest Loans for Self-Help Groups, and Jagananna Thodu. These programmes had empowered lakhs of women by strengthening their financial independence.

Under YS Jagan’s government:

• Rs. 25,571 crore was provided through YSR Asara.
• Rs. 19,129 crore through YSR Cheyutha.
• Rs. 2,029 crore under Kapu Nestham.
• Rs. 1,876 crore under EBC Nestham.
• Rs. 4,969 crore through Zero Interest loans.
• Rs. 88 crore was extended as interest subsidy under Jagananna Thodu.

The coalition government has not only discontinued these schemes but has also failed to implement its own promises.

Women are now owed Rs. 36,000 each under Aadabidda Nidhi for the past two years. The promised Rs. 4,000 monthly pension for BC, SC and Minority women above 50 years has not been implemented, leaving arrears of Rs. 96,000 per beneficiary.

The promise of three free LPG cylinders annually has remained largely unfulfilled, with many beneficiaries receiving only one or two cylinders over two years.

The promise of free bus travel across the state has been diluted by restricting eligibility to only five categories of APSRTC services while excluding newly introduced buses.

Despite promising housing, the coalition government has not distributed a single house site or constructed a single house for women in two years. In contrast, the YS Jagan government registered 31.19 lakh house sites in the names of women, sanctioned 21.75 lakh houses, and completed construction of nearly 10 lakh houses.

Bank credit linkage for Self-Help Groups has also declined significantly. NABARD data shows that bank linkage dropped from Rs. 49,626 crore in 2023-24 under YSRCP to Rs. 41,623 crore in 2024-25, and further to Rs. 30,698 crore during the first ten months of 2025-26, reflecting a weakening of women’s economic empowerment.

YS Jagan’s government strengthened women’s livelihoods by partnering with multinational companies such as Amul, Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, ITC, and Reliance while integrating them with Self-Help Groups and bank linkages. Combined with welfare initiatives like Asara, Cheyutha, Kapu Nestham, EBC Nestham, Jagananna Thodu, Chedodu, Netanna Nestham, Vahana Mitra, and Zero Interest schemes, these measures aimed to make every woman financially self-reliant.

The previous government also distributed nearly 71,000 acres of land to poor women through house sites, with individual plot values ranging from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 15 lakh depending on location. The present government has dismantled this programme and even cancelled house site pattas allotted to nearly 50,000 poor families in Amaravati, while failing to distribute a single new patta in two years.

The coalition government also discontinued the Disha initiative that was introduced for the protection of women and children, thereby weakening institutional mechanisms for women’s safety. The YSR Pelli Kanuka scheme was also discontinued.

Questions the Government Must Answer

1. Why has the promised Aadabidda Nidhi of Rs. 1,500 per month not been implemented even after two years?
2. When will women receive the pending Rs. 36,000 promised under the scheme?
3. Why has the promised Rs. 4,000 monthly pension for BC, SC and Minority women above 50 years not been implemented?
4. Why were three free LPG cylinders per year not provided as promised?
5. Why has free bus travel for women been restricted instead of being universally implemented?
6. Why has not a single house site been distributed to women in two years?
7. Why were house site pattas of nearly 50,000 poor families in Amaravati cancelled?
8. Why have bank credit linkages for Self-Help Groups sharply declined?
9. Why were successful schemes like Asara, Cheyutha, Kapu Nestham and EBC Nestham discontinued?
10. Why were the promises made to women during elections abandoned after coming to power?

YS Jagan gave top priority to Women’s Empowerment

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy firmly believed that the well-being of women determines the well-being of families and society. His governance model was built on the conviction that financial support, political representation, education, and social empowerment together create genuine women’s empowerment.

His government implemented a wide range of welfare and development programmes including Asara, Cheyutha, Amma Vodi, housing for women, and several livelihood initiatives while simultaneously providing women unprecedented political representation.

Following the reformist legacy of Kandukuri Veeresalingam and Gurajada Apparao, YS Jagan launched a comprehensive social empowerment agenda from the day he assumed office on 30 May 2019, integrating political, educational, economic and social empowerment into governance.

Women were given significant representation in governance from the Cabinet to nominated positions. The government appointed a woman Deputy Chief Minister, four women ministers, two Dalit women as Home Ministers in successive phases, and a Muslim woman as Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council for the first time in the state’s history. Women also held key portfolios including Home, Health, and Women & Child Welfare, while Neelam Sawhney became the state’s first woman Chief Secretary and later State Election Commissioner.

Record Political Representation

YS Jagan implemented 50% reservation in local bodies and exceeded that benchmark in practice.

• 54% of Zilla Parishad Chairpersons were women.
• 58% of Zilla Parishad Vice-Chairpersons were women.
• 50% of Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts were held by women.
• 54% of corporators were women.
• 64% of Municipal Chairpersons were women.
• 55% of ward members were women.
• Women occupied 57% of Sarpanch posts, 54% of MPTC positions, 53% of Mandal President posts and 53% of ZPTC positions.
• Among 2.65 lakh village volunteers, 53% were women.
• Among 1.34 lakh village and ward secretariat employees, 51% were women.

Historic Legal Reform

YS Jagan enacted a landmark law providing 50% reservation for women in nominated posts and nomination-based contracts—the first such legislation in India.

The implementation exceeded the statutory requirement:

• 586 out of 1,154 Director posts (51%) were allocated to women.
• 102 out of 202 Market Yard Chairperson posts were given to women.
• Overall, 688 out of 1,356 nominated political positions (51%) were held by women.

These measures reflected YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that women became equal partners in governance, leadership, and development, making his tenure a defining chapter in the history of women’s empowerment in Andhra Pradesh.