10L of axed Ladki Bahin recipients were tax payers, says Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday that 80 lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana have been dropped from the scheme. “When scrutiny of documents from various databases was carried out, it was found that 14,000 beneficiaries were men, five lakh were govt employees, 10 lakh were income tax payers and four-five lakh were those where the household owned a vehicle,” he said.

In an interview to a media channel on Monday, Fadnavis said that when the scheme was launched, the state govt had set certain criteria for eligibility but had allowed self-certification. It was the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that had questioned why there was no scrutiny. Following strictures from the CAG, the state govt asked the beneficiaries to submit their KYC (Know Your Customer) details.

KYC is a mandatory verification process used by businesses and financial institutions to confirm the identity of their clients and assess potential risks. It prevents identity theft, financial fraud and the creation of fake accounts.