The verification of eligible beneficiaries under the 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, which has gained significant attention across Maharashtra for its voter appeal, is currently underway. According to the Commissioner of Women and Child Welfare, many ineligible beneficiaries have returned the funds they received, and action has been taken against them. So far, 10,000 applications have been declared ineligible. Additionally, Aadhaar linkage verification is still pending for 69,175 applicants.
To date, 20,84,364 women in the district have received benefits under the scheme. Statewide, over 2.52 crore applications were approved before the model code of conduct came into effect for the assembly elections. In Pune district alone, more than 20,48,000 applications were approved. The scheme's deadline was October 15, but the implementation of the model code of conduct on October 16 delayed the scrutiny and approval process for newly submitted applications, leaving over one lakh applications in the district unresolved.
Following the expiration of the model code of conduct, the district administration resumed its scrutiny of pending applications. Among these, 9,814 applications were deemed ineligible due to errors, while 5,724 applications were provisionally rejected for minor issues. Applicants with minor errors have been given an opportunity to rectify them. Currently, 12,000 applications are still under review, meaning 99.43% of applications have already been scrutinized. However, Aadhaar seeding with bank accounts remains incomplete for 69,175 applications.