Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has found that a staggering 26 lakh individuals may be ineligible for the ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin’ scheme, a flagship welfare program launched in July of last year. This discovery comes after a preliminary analysis of beneficiary data, with the government now initiating a detailed physical verification process to confirm their eligibility.
Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare confirmed the development on Monday, stating that the Information and Technology Department had provided an initial list of approximately 26 lakh beneficiaries who do not appear to meet the scheme’s criteria. These beneficiaries are spread across all districts of the state.
The “Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin” scheme provides a monthly financial assistance of ₹1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 with an annual family income of less than ₹2.5 lakh. A key eligibility condition is that beneficiaries should not be receiving benefits from any other government scheme.
Last month, Minister Tatkare had revealed that the government’s initial checks had uncovered a number of irregularities. These included beneficiaries availing benefits from multiple schemes, households with more than two women receiving aid, and even men who had applied for the scheme. The minister clarified that while the scrutiny is underway, the benefits for the approximately 2.25 crore eligible beneficiaries will continue uninterrupted.
The minister assured the public that a thorough field-level scrutiny is being conducted to ensure no genuine case is left out. She said that her department will verify cases where a woman may have provided a male family member’s bank account, especially if she does not have an account in her own name. “If any genuine case is found, the fund transfer will resume in such cases,” Tatkare said.
Once the physical verification is complete, appropriate action will be taken against those found to be definitively ineligible, in line with the guidance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. The government’s decision to conduct this massive verification drive is seen as an effort to ensure the integrity of the scheme and manage the financial strain on the state exchequer.
Maharashtra Government Identifies 26 Lakh ‘Ineligible’ Beneficiaries Of ‘Ladki Bahin’ Scheme
