The Maharashtra government has asked beneficiaries of the ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’ to complete their mandatory e-KYC verification by November 18 to continue receiving financial assistance, reported the PTI.
State Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare announced that the honorarium for October will be released from Wednesday, with payments being directly credited to the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of all eligible women.
Launched in July last year, the flagship state scheme provides a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 years whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh.
To ensure transparency, the government made e-KYC mandatory in September, giving beneficiaries two months to complete the process. An online facility for e-KYC has been made available on the official portal — ladakibahin.maharashtra.gov.in.
Tatkare said that the scheme aims to promote social and economic empowerment of women across Maharashtra and continues to receive strong public support.
She also mentioned that the government has stopped payments to 12,000 accounts found to be held by men, and funds previously transferred to ineligible women beneficiaries — including government employees and those covered under other schemes — have been recovered.
Currently, more than 2.3 crore women are enrolled under the scheme, and the October installment will be transferred starting Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in July, Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare had stated that 26.34 lakh beneficiaries were found ineligible and had their stipends paused.
The list included duplicate beneficiaries, households with more than two applicants, and in some cases, men posing as eligible recipients.
Aditi Tatkare stated that all claims were being reviewed by district collectors, and only verified beneficiaries would resume receiving the monthly allowance. The minister assured that appropriate action would be taken against bogus claimants, the news agency reported.
Earlier, Tatkare, had said that the government was scrutinising the bank accounts of over 12,000 men who allegedly availed themselves of benefits under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana,
She had also said that some people were attempting to discredit the Ladki Bahin scheme.
The minister had revealed that Aadhaar had not been linked (seeded) to nearly 50 lakh bank accounts registered under the scheme in its initial phase.
“Aadhaar seeding was implemented because of Ladki Bahin,” she had said, adding, “This will help women not only receive their monthly payments but also benefit them in other matters,” according to the PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
