2 lakh more women may be dropped from Ladki Bahin scheme

Maharashtra's government plans to delete 2 lakh ineligible beneficiaries from the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana by February, adding to 5 lakh removed in January.

MUMBAI: As the state continues to weed out ineligible beneficiaries registered with its flagship Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, another 2 lakh names are likely to be deleted from the list. These names, which will be dropped by end-February, are in addition to the 5 lakh ineligible beneficiaries deleted in January.

2 lakh more women may be dropped from Ladki Bahin scheme

The BJP-led Mahayuti government had announced the scheme in June 2024, with direct cash benefit of ₹1,500 per month for women aged between 21 and 65, from families with an annual income below ₹2.5 lakh. There were also several riders, which the women who signed up had ignored.

The scheme, which had been announced with much fanfare and helped deliver the Mahayuti alliance a thumping victory in the assembly elections, is now weighing heavily on the state’s treasury. Amid reports of women from higher income brackets signing up, the Mahayuti government, after returning to power in December last year, started closely scrutinising the list of beneficiaries. Of the 5 lakh women dropped from the list in January, 2.30 lakh avail benefits under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar (destitute) Scheme, 1.10 lakh are above the cut-off age of 65, and 1.60 lakh own four-wheelers. There are around 2.3 crore beneficiaries registered under the scheme at present.

Recently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the number of ineligible beneficiaries may go up to 1-1.5 million after scrutiny is completed. “We are in the process of getting data from the income tax department. As scrutiny continues, ineligible women will be dropped from the list. Women benefitting from the Namo Shetkari scheme will not be deleted but will get only ₹500 as they are already receiving ₹1,000 per month,” said an official from the department of women and child development.

The official also said many women from Western Maharashtra could be dropped as it is a comparatively economically strong region due to income from cash crops. Also, several families here possess four wheelers compared to other regions.

The government, which will be disbursing ₹3,490 crore as its February installment under the scheme, has also said that beneficiaries would have to execute E-KYC in June every year.

Meanwhile, women and child development minister Aditi Tatkare on Wednesday claimed that scrutiny of the list of Ladki Bahin beneficiaries started when the scheme was launched, and it was the opposition who claimed that it had begun after the assembly results.