India, Aug. 11 -- Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Monday stressed that women's health and financial empowerment were top priorities for the government and that women should not be treated merely as "machines for giving birth to children" as she hit back at criticism from the opposition over its eligibility conditions.

Gupta was responding to allegations by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that the scheme's impact would be limited by a condition excluding women with more than three children. AAP leader and former Delhi minister Gopal Rai also questioned the requirement for women to prove that they had been living in Delhi for 10 years, and said the registration process was tedious.

Addressing the criticism, Gupta said family planning was a person...