The Maharashtra government’s Women and Child Development (WCD) department has decided to start the process of linking the data of beneficiaries collecting benefits under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
To reduce financial pressure, the government plans to weed out a sizeable number of payees. The government expects to remove at least 25% of the 2.46 crore beneficiaries, which will help save up to âš900 crore of the âš3,690 crore spent monthly on the scheme.
Additionally, the government will exclude beneficiaries who are also receiving benefits from schemes like the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana (a pension scheme for destitute women), under which over 25 lakh women receive âš1,500 a month, and the Namo Shetkari Samman Yojana (cash benefit announced in 2019 under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi and replicated by the state), under which 94 lakh beneficiaries receive âš1,000 a month.
The government will also examine beneficiaries receiving cash benefits for purchasing farm equipment under schemes for farmers and cross-check their inclusion in the Ladki Bahin list.
Families with an annual income exceeding âš2.5 lakh will no longer be eligible for the scheme, as the government has decided to exclude them.
“We want to ensure that honest taxpayersâ money is not given to those who do not need it,” said a senior government official, clarifying the intent behind the move.
He further added, “We are trying to plug the loopholes. The scheme was launched with the purpose of extending benefits to women who genuinely need them.”
However, this move by the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra is facing sharp criticism from the opposition.
âThe scheme was launched hurriedly to gain electoral benefits. Then CM Eknath Shinde had said that the Ladki Bahin scheme is for all women and that there wonât be any scrutiny while extending benefits to needy and poor women,” said Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole.
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