MUMBAI: Around 81 lakh beneficiaries have been removed from the Maharashtra government’s Ladki Bahin Yojana after a months-long e-KYC verification drive, women and child development Minister Aditi Tatkare said on Monday.Tatkare said the e-KYC exercise was mandatory to identify and remove ineligible beneficiaries, including income-tax payers and families of government employees, who are not eligible under the scheme, news agency PTI reported.“When the scheme was launched, 2.63 crore persons had registered to avail its benefits, and of them, 2.47 crore women became beneficiaries and received monthly financial assistance,” she said.“Once the department started e-KYC to filter out non-eligible beneficiaries, the number started shrinking further,” Tatkare added.Launched on June 28, 2024, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana aims to promote women’s economic independence by providing eligible women aged 21 to 65 years with a monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 through Direct Benefit Transfer.
Government cites e-KYC verification
Responding to media reports claiming that 93 lakh beneficiaries had been removed, Tatkare said, “After the e-KYC drive, the number of beneficiaries had reached 1.67 to 1.7 crore. If you subtract this figure from the number of people who had registered for the scheme at the time of its launch, you get 92 to 93 lakh. But in reality, the state disbursed the stipend to 2.47 crore women, and the rest were found to be ineligible right from the start.”She said nearly 62 lakh beneficiaries who had registered under the scheme and received benefits failed to complete the e-KYC process despite repeated deadline extensions, PTI reported.“Around 16 lakh beneficiaries were found to have annual family income exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh, while 4.42 lakh were declared ineligible because a family member was a government employee,” she said, adding that some men and government employees had also registered under the scheme and received benefits.Tatkare said the e-KYC exercise began in August 2025, and beneficiaries were given six months to complete the process, with assistance extended till April to rectify deficiencies.She added that complaints from women who completed e-KYC but did not receive benefits are also being verified.The minister said the government had started recovering money from government employees eight to 10 months ago, and the recovered amount was being deposited into the state treasury.
Opposition alleges political misuse
Meanwhile, opposition parties intensified their criticism of the government, alleging that the scheme, launched months before the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, was used as a political inducement.State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged financial irregularities in the implementation of the scheme.“The government allocated Rs 29,693 crore for the scheme but spent Rs 3,541 crore more than the approved budget without maintaining any record or account of the additional expenditure. Is this a government or a gang of robbers?” he said.Sapkal also claimed that expenditure on women’s welfare schemes increased from Rs 261.78 crore to Rs 33,554 crore in 2024-25, while spending on housing schemes dropped by 54% and expenditure on water supply and sanitation declined by 31.81%.Congress MP and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad alleged that the government declared women “beloved sisters” before the elections but deemed them ineligible after assuming power.“If these women were ineligible, why were they given benefits till now? And if they were eligible, why have they now been removed from the scheme? Were the rules ignored before the elections to secure votes and invoked later because of financial stress?” she questioned.In a post on X, NCP (SP) spokesperson Ravikant Varpe alleged that the scheme was introduced to gain women’s trust and votes, but the government had now shown “more than 92 lakh women the exit door”.“The number of beneficiaries has fallen from 2.4 crore, with nearly 38% of women now excluded. Were these women eligible before the elections and suddenly ineligible afterwards? Was this a welfare scheme or merely an election gimmick?” he asked.MNS spokesperson Anil Shidore described the development as “disturbing”.“The removal of lakhs of beneficiaries means thousands of crores of rupees were spent on ineligible beneficiaries. These include 4.42 lakh family members of government employees, 29,000 men and 8,000 government employees,” Shidore said.“The CAG has also pointed to an excess expenditure of Rs 3,541 crore over the planned outlay. The scheme was announced in June 2024, two instalments were paid in August, and assembly elections followed immediately. It is easy for aware citizens to draw their own conclusions,” he stated in an X post.(With agency inputs)