State to authenticate Ladki Bahin beneficiaries via e-KYC

The populist scheme, which involves a direct monthly cash transfer of ₹1,500 to underprivileged women, has been in the thick of a controversy regarding ineligible beneficiaries, as verification of the latter was not conducted when the scheme was launched before the assembly elections last year

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to authenticate the Aadhaar cards of all the beneficiaries of its flagship scheme, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The authentication is to be done through e-KYC, and a government resolution (GR) to this effect was issued on Thursday by the women and child development department.

Thane, Aug 15 (ANI): BJP women's wing member shows the money received under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, in Thane on Thursday. (ANI Photo) (Anil Shinde)

The populist scheme, which involves a direct monthly cash transfer of ₹1,500 to underprivileged women, has been in the thick of a controversy regarding ineligible beneficiaries, as verification of the latter was not conducted when the scheme was launched before the assembly elections last year. Instead, the government took self-declarations from all the applicants.

“The move to authenticate them was decided in the state cabinet meeting recently. It will help us to weed out some of the ineligible beneficiaries,” said a senior official from the women and child development department.

In August, the state information technology department submitted a list of around 2.6 million ineligible beneficiaries of the scheme, after which the state women and child development department began its scrutiny.

Aditi Tatkare, state women and child development minister, said the department was expecting the scrutiny report in the coming weeks, and it was not necessary that all the 2.6 million beneficiaries would be rendered ineligible. “The anganwadi workers are physically conducting the survey,” she told reporters. “We are expecting reports from all the districts in the next two weeks. All the eligible beneficiaries will continue to get the benefit of the scheme but those found ineligible will not get anything henceforth.”

The scheme launched last July provides monthly assistance to women in the age group of 21 to 65 years with an annual income below ₹2.5 lakh, who, furthermore, are not beneficiaries of any other government scheme. As of now, there are approximately 22.5 million eligible beneficiaries, to whom the state government allocates ₹3,800 crore every month.

This is for the first time that the state is conducting an e-KYC for all the beneficiaries, which will be made available on its website https://ladakibahin.maharashtra.gov.in/.