Ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections, the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra announced to increase the assistant amount to Rs 21,00 from Rs 1,500 of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana scheme, due to which a grand alliance, comprising Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction, Ajit Pawar's NCP, and the BJP achieved an unforgettable victory in the Assembly polls. However, the promised amount of Rs 21,00 by the government in power has not increased, and lakhs of ineligible beneficiary women were excluded from the scheme in recent days. It is now reported that verification under the scheme is being postponed due to the upcoming municipal and local body elections.
According to reports, after scrutiny, the government had decided to reduce the number of women beneficiaries in the state under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. However, sources in the Women and Child Welfare Department revealed that the entire process has been put on hold ahead of the local body elections.
A total of 2.63 crore applications were received from across the state for the scheme, which was launched in July last year. After initial scrutiny, 2.34 crore women were granted benefits. Eventually, the number stabilised at 2.47 crore, which has remained unchanged for the past three months. In February, officials had stated that applications of ineligible women would be further verified. Under the scheme, women aged between 21 and 65 years receive a financial benefit of Rs 1,500 per month.
After the Assembly elections, the government had announced that ineligible women would be removed from the beneficiary list after application scrutiny. The Union Finance Ministry was asked to provide data on families who had paid income tax to identify ineligible women. The goal was to screen out women whose income exceeded Rs 2.5 lakh annually. However, considering the upcoming elections to municipal corporations, municipal councils, Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, the entire verification process has now been paused. All women currently registered under the scheme will continue to receive benefits until the elections conclude.
Meanwhile, five months ago, the Women’s Development Department had announced that the verification process under the Chief Minister’s Ladki Scheme, a flagship initiative of the Mahayuti government, would begin. But in light of the upcoming local body elections, the verification of ineligible beneficiaries has now been postponed.