19 August,2026 01:27 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
RTI reveals beneficiary count falls by nearly 83 lakh after verification (Representational image)
The Maharashtra government's flagship scheme Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana is again under the scanner. The scheme has witnessed a sharp decline in its beneficiary base following a statewide verification and an e-KYC exercise.
According to information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) query, questions over exclusions, wrongful payouts, and recovery of funds from ineligible beneficiaries in Ladki Bahin Yojana have raised concerns.
According to RTI information obtained by activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation, the number of active beneficiaries has fallen from nearly 2.48 crore at its peak to 1,65,66,164 following the verification exercise.
The contraction comes despite the Directorate of Economics and Statistics having estimated, even before the scheme was launched, that around 2.47 crore women would meet its annual family income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh for eligibility.
With the beneficiary count now at around 1.65 crore, the scheme entails a monthly expenditure of approximately Rs 2,484.92 crore, translating into an annual financial burden of around Rs 29,819.10 crore.
One of the biggest reasons for the reduction in beneficiaries was incomplete electronic verification. According to the RTI data, around 62 lakh women were removed from the beneficiary list because they did not complete the mandatory e-KYC process.
Ghadge raised concerns over the impact of the digital verification requirement on women living in remote and tribal areas and those facing difficulties accessing digital services.
"A staggering 62 lakh women did not complete the e-KYC process, which means that mainly poor women living in remote villages, adivasis in jungles, or those facing technical hurdles have been left out," Ghadge said.
He said the government should introduce an offline KYC mechanism in areas where beneficiaries face difficulties completing the digital process.
"While Rs 1,500 may not mean much in urban centres, it is a lifeline in remote villages - paying for medicines for the elderly or children's school expenses," Ghadge further added.
He added that the discrepancies in the figures and implementation warranted an independent audit to determine whether public funds were reaching the intended beneficiaries.
The RTI information has also raised questions over payments made to beneficiaries who were allegedly ineligible under the scheme's criteria.
According to the data, more than 4.5 lakh beneficiaries were flagged through government-linked records. This includes approximately 4.42 lakh self-declared government-linked entries and 8,000 verified government employees.
Based on the payments involved, the potential value of the unauthorised payouts is estimated at between Rs 600 crore and Rs 800 crore.
However, the RTI response indicates that corresponding recovery action has not been reported. The department stated that it had not received reports or data from district offices regarding the recovery of funds from ineligible government employees.
The disclosure is significant as the government had previously indicated that funds paid to ineligible beneficiaries would be recovered.
The RTI response has also raised concerns over transparency in the implementation of the scheme.
While district-wise information had reportedly been made available during earlier information requests, the latest response did not provide a regional breakdown of the beneficiary data and related action.
The absence of district-level figures makes it difficult to assess where the largest exclusions occurred, how many beneficiaries were identified as ineligible in individual districts and whether recoveries have actually been initiated.
