Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana Verification: Beneficiary Count Falls From 2.4 Crore To 1.48 Crore

More than 92 lakh women have been removed from Maharashtra's Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana after the state government carried out a large-scale verification of beneficiaries. Just a month ago, the government had estimated that around 80 lakh names would be deleted following the mandatory e-KYC exercise.

With the latest revision, the number of beneficiaries has dropped from 2.4 crore to around 1.48 crore, a decline of nearly 38%.

Officials said the deletions were not only due to incomplete e-KYC but also because many applicants no longer met the scheme's eligibility criteria.

The largest chunk of removals involved women who failed to complete the mandatory e-KYC process despite being given nearly eight months to do so. According to officials, around 50 to 55 lakh women were dropped for this reason alone.

Another 12 lakh women were found to have annual family incomes above the scheme's prescribed limit, while over 4.5 lakh beneficiaries were removed because they were older than the maximum eligible age of 65 years.

The verification drive also uncovered around 14,000 men who had applied for benefits under the women-centric scheme. Their names were immediately removed from the beneficiary list.

Among all districts, Beed recorded the highest number of deletions, with nearly 28 lakh beneficiaries being removed.

Officials also found that around 12 lakh beneficiaries were income taxpayers, making them ineligible for the scheme. In addition, about 5 lakh women were already receiving financial assistance under the Namo Shetkari Yojana, which also led to their removal.

The government said the verification process is still underway and the final number of beneficiaries will be known only after rechecking all records. It is also reviewing complaints from women who believe their names were removed by mistake.

The exercise comes even as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in a report released last week, flagged concerns over the scheme's financial impact. The audit said the expenditure of ₹3,541 crore under the scheme could not be justified and warned that it could put additional pressure on Maharashtra's finances.

The Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana was approved by the Maharashtra government on June 28, 2024. Since its launch, spending on women's welfare in the state has surged from ₹261.78 crore in 2023-24 to ₹33,554.36 crore in 2024-25, according to the CAG report.