'Ladki Bahin Yojana' will not be discontinued; eligible women will continue to receive benefits—here are the key details...
The Maharashtra government has recently dismissed speculations suggesting that the 'Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' (My Beloved Sister Scheme) might be discontinued. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has personally stated that the scheme will not be shut down. He affirmed that approximately 1.70 crore eligible women would continue to receive the scheme's benefits as before. This statement comes at a time when the opposition is targeting the government over the removal of lakhs of beneficiaries from the list following e-KYC and eligibility verification.
**Irregularities Revealed During Verification**
Fadnavis explained that when the scheme was launched, women were allowed to self-declare their eligibility. The objective was to ensure that no eligible woman was deprived of the scheme's benefits due to a lack of documentation. However, subsequent verification of beneficiaries revealed several irregularities. According to the Deputy Chief Minister, women from the families of government employees were availing themselves of the scheme's benefits, and in many instances, even men had applied for it.
**Eligibility-Related Discrepancies Found in 10 Lakh Cases**
Fadnavis stated that scrutiny revealed eligibility-related discrepancies in the cases of approximately 10 lakh beneficiaries. Additionally, around 14,000 men had applied for the scheme. The government cross-referenced beneficiary details with data from the Income Tax Department, the Transport Department, and ration card databases. Based on this, ineligible beneficiaries were identified and removed from the list.
**Payments Halted for Those Who Did Not Complete e-KYC**
The Deputy Chief Minister stated that payments have been withheld for beneficiaries who failed to complete the mandatory e-KYC process or did not meet the eligibility criteria. However, the government has clarified that funds already disbursed to women later found ineligible will not be recovered. Conversely, the amount will be recovered from men who availed themselves of the scheme's benefits by providing incorrect information. Number of beneficiaries drops from 2.4 crore to 1.7 crore.
According to government officials, the number of beneficiaries has fallen from 2.4 crore to approximately 1.7 crore following the expiration of the e-KYC deadline on April 30. However, this decline is attributed not only to the failure to complete e-KYC but also to violations of eligibility criteria.
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