Over 92 lakh women removed from Maharashtra’s Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana

• Manish Kumar
• 15 Jul 2026
• 116 Views

According to government records reviewed by The Indian Express, more than 92 lakh beneficiaries have been removed from Maharashtra’s Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana after a statewide verification drive was conducted. The verification drive revealed that many of the beneficiaries under the scheme were actually either ineligible for it or had not completed the mandatory verification requirements. 

Officials involved in the exercise estimated that those removed from the scheme had collectively received nearly Rs. 14,000 crore before their monthly payments were discontinued. 

On average, the beneficiaries whose payments were stopped had received assistance for about 10 months under the scheme. However, officials noted that there was no uniform cut-off date as beneficiaries were identified at different stages of the verification process. 

Majority Removed for Not Completing eKYC 

According to the government records, the biggest reason for removal of most beneficiaries was due to failure to complete the mandatory e-KYC process for Ladki Bahin Yojana. About 62 lakh women, who accounted for approx. 67% of all deleted beneficiaries, were removed because they failed to complete eKYC authentication. An additional 1.6 million beneficiaries (17%) were removed as they were found to belong to families with an annual income exceeding the scheme’s eligibility limit of Rs. 2.5 lakh. 

Around 442,000 women (4.8%) declared during the verification process that they or a family member were government employees. This rendered them ineligible for scheme. The verification process also revealed to government that about 360,000 beneficiaries (3.9%) were already receiving financial benefits under Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana.

Nearly 250,000 cases (2.7%) involved more than two members from the same family receiving benefits, which amounts to violation of Ladki Bahin scheme rules. Additionally, about 180,000 beneficiaries (2%) were found to be above the upper age limit of 65 years. Nearly 170,000 cases (1.8%) were rejected during verification at district-level. It was also identified by officials that around 29,000 men and nearly 8,000 government employees had received benefits despite being ineligible.

CM Fadnavis Limits Recovery of Wrongful Payments 

Aditi Tatkare announced that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had declared in the Assembly that recovery of payments made to ineligible beneficiaries would be limited to male beneficiaries and government employees. 

Previously, the minister informed the Assembly that recovery proceedings had been initiated against government employees, male beneficiaries and other ineligible recipients identified during a verification exercise conducted under the Revenue Recovery Receipt mechanism. District Collectors have also been instructed to recover the amounts paid to these beneficiaries.

Reduced Budget Allocation for Ladki Bahin Yojana

The Maharashtra government has reduced budget allocation for Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana from Rs. 36,000 crore in 2025-26 to Rs. 26,500 crore in current financial year. This reflects a decrease of nearly Rs. 9,500 crore. 

As of now, the Mahayuti government's election promise to increase monthly financial assistance under the scheme from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,100 has not yet been implemented. 

Source: MSN