Nearly 70 lakh women found ineligible under Ladki Bahin scheme after e-KYC drive

PUNE: Nearly 70 lakh beneficiaries under the state govt's flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana have been found ineligible following a large-scale e-KYC and eligibility verification exercise.

The move has led to a sharp decline in the number of women receiving the monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,500.

Minister of state for Women and Child Development (WCD) Meghana Bordikar told TOI that despite repeated extensions and awareness drives, a significant number of beneficiaries failed to complete the mandatory e-KYC process.

"We extended the e-KYC deadline for nearly four to five months. Even after providing sufficient time, around 70 lakh women did not complete the process. This indicates that many of them were not genuinely eligible beneficiaries," Bordikar said.

The scheme, launched ahead of the Assembly elections as one of the Mahayuti govt's flagship welfare initiatives, initially covered nearly 2.46 crore women beneficiaries across Maharashtra. However, following Aadhaar authentication, bank account validation and scrutiny of eligibility criteria, the number of beneficiaries receiving payments for Feb 2026 dropped to around 1.76 crore.

Officials from the WCD department said the verification process identified duplicate applications, mismatched Aadhaar details, incorrect bank information and beneficiaries allegedly not meeting income eligibility norms. State govt had made e-KYC mandatory after concerns were raised over irregularities and inadequate scrutiny during the scheme's rapid rollout.

The large-scale removal of beneficiaries is also expected to reduce the financial burden significantly on the state exchequer.

In the Maharashtra Budget for 2026–27, the allocation for the Ladki Bahin scheme was reduced by 26% to Rs 26,500 crore, down from Rs 36,000 crore allocated in 2025–26, following the beneficiary verification drive. Budget documents projected the beneficiary base at around 1.53 crore women after the clean-up exercise.

Despite the govt's claims that adequate time was provided for compliance, several women said they were unable to complete corrections or update their documents after Dec due to technical issues and procedural hurdles.

"I had submitted all my documents, but there was an issue with my Aadhaar-linked mobile number. After Dec, officials told me changes could no longer be made in the system. I visited the centre several times, but my application remained pending," said Sunita Jadhav, a beneficiary whose payments were stopped earlier this year.

Another beneficiary from the interior regions of the state, Rekha Shinde, said she could not complete the e-KYC process despite the extension period.

"The portal repeatedly showed errors. Local operators said updates were no longer possible after the deadline. I depend on this money for household expenses and my children's education," she said.

Activists working with women's groups in rural Maharashtra said several genuine beneficiaries may have been excluded due to poor internet connectivity, lack of digital literacy, Aadhaar mismatches and confusion over changing deadlines. They urged the govt to provide a final grievance redressal mechanism for women who may have been wrongly declared ineligible.

However, Bordikar maintained that the govt had made extensive efforts to ensure compliance.

"The govt repeatedly appealed to beneficiaries to complete e-KYC. Camps were organised, and deadlines were extended multiple times. Genuine beneficiaries who completed the process are receiving benefits without interruption," she said.

She added that the disbursement of pending instalments was currently underway.

"The disbursement of March and April 2026 instalments for genuine beneficiaries is underway. Eligible women will continue receiving benefits as per the scheme guidelines," Bordikar said.