Mumbai, Feb 7
In a significant development, the Maharashtra government has excluded a record five lakh women beneficiaries from the flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana after a verification exercise revealed a long list of ineligible individuals.
"Five lakh ineligible women have been excluded from the Ladki Bahin Yojana as per the government decision. The beneficiaries who were declared ineligible include women beneficiaries of Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana - 2,30,000; women above 65 years of age - 1,10,000 and women who are beneficiaries of Namoshakti Yojana and have four-wheelers in the name of family members but voluntarily withdrew their names from the scheme - 1,60,000," Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said.
Tatkare, however, clarified that the state government is committed to providing the benefits of the Ladki Bahin Yojana to all eligible women.
Under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which was launched in July last year ahead of Assembly elections, the government has provided monthly aid of Rs 1,500 each from July to January to about 2.46 crore eligible women beneficiaries.
The government is planning to give the installment for February soon.
The Maharashtra government's move to drop five lakh women from the Ladki Bahin Yojana comes in the wake of a verification exercise launched after it received complaints about bogus beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
The government had sought information from the Income Tax Department and Transport Department for the verification of beneficiaries.
Aditi Tatkare clarified that the government would only address complaints regarding the bogus beneficiaries.
She said that the trigger for launching the verification process was complaints about potential bogus beneficiaries of the scheme. She added that about 4,500 women have applied to opt out of the scheme following these concerns.
Earlier, the minister of industry and Marathi language Uday Samant said that the state government will not close the implementation of a flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana but reiterated that the verification of eligible beneficiaries will continue. He added that some beneficiaries during the verification process will become ineligible due to age, the possession of vehicle and excess income.
"Those who are above 65 years of age and those who have a four-wheeler are not eligible for this scheme. Also, if such women have joined the scheme inadvertently or by mistake, they are being excluded," he said.
- IANS