Maharashtra Deletes Over 92 Lakh Beneficiaries From Ladki Bahin Scheme After Verification Drive

Over 92 lakh women have lost eligibility under Maharashtra's flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, accounting for nearly four in 10 enrollees. A state-wide verification exercise yielded deletions far exceeding the 80 lakh figure publicly disclosed by the government.

According to The Indian Express, government records revealed the exact scale of the removals. Active coverage under the scheme has dropped to just over 1.5 crore women, down from its peak of around 2.43 crore beneficiaries before the verification exercise began in September 2025. The scheme provides Rs 1,500 every month to women aged 21 to 65 years from families with an annual income below Rs 2.5 lakh. Government employees, income tax payers and beneficiaries of certain other welfare schemes are excluded.

Reasons for Mass Deletions

The data exposes massive ineligibility. Government records detail the specific eligibility failures that led to the removal of over 92 lakh individuals. The demographic breakdown shows the following discrepancies:

• Nearly 62 lakh beneficiaries (67%) failed to complete mandatory eKYC authentication.

• Around 16 lakh (17%) exceeded the annual family income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh.

• About 4.42 lakh (4.8%) declared they or a family member were government employees. An additional 8,000 government employees were separately flagged.

• Around 3.6 lakh (3.9%) were already receiving assistance under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana.

• Nearly 2.5 lakh (2.7%) cases involved more than two members of the same family drawing benefits.

• About 1.8 lakh (2%) were above the upper age limit of 65 years.

• Nearly 1.7 lakh (1.8%) were flagged during district-level verification.

• Nearly 29,000 men improperly received benefits despite being ineligible.

Financial Impact and Audits

The financial toll is immense. Removed beneficiaries collectively received about Rs 14,000 crore before payments were stopped. This averaged around 10 months of assistance per ineligible recipient, although there was no uniform cut-off because beneficiaries were identified at different stages of the verification process. Since the scheme's launch ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections, budget allocations and supplementary provisions have crossed Rs 60,000 crore.

The state government has now slashed the scheme's allocation, reducing the budget from Rs 36,000 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 26,500 crore in the current financial year—a cut of Rs 9,500 crore. Along with these budget cuts, the Mahayuti government's poll promise to increase the monthly assistance from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100 has not materialised.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) flagged "significant deficiencies in budget estimation, expenditure control and financial management" in its 2024-25 audit, as reported by The Indian Express. The statutory body cited Rs 3,541 crore in excess expenditure without specific justification. It also stated that Rs 15,586 crore remained parked in deposit accounts without immediate utilisation requirements, and recommended a more realistic assessment of beneficiary numbers and fund requirements while budgeting for large direct benefit transfer schemes.

Government Response and Recovery

Authorities defended the delayed timelines. Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare explained that the Assembly election schedule and the Model Code of Conduct delayed the eKYC exercise. The state decided on the verification mandate in August 2025—granting extensions until December 31, 2025.

"The scheme was launched in June 2024 and the first two instalments were released together in August 2024...the eKYC exercise could not be started earlier," Tatkare said.

She maintained the administration acted fairly regarding the mass deletions. "It is not that the government removed them. All those who had registered and were eligible received benefits till the eKYC procedure was completed," Tatkare said.

Addressing the recovery of distributed funds, she outlined a selective approach. "Even CM sir [Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis] has announced in the Assembly that except for the male beneficiaries and government staffers, money wouldn’t be recovered from any other beneficiaries," Tatkare said.

Recovery proceedings have commenced against these specific groups. Authorities initiated action under the Revenue Recovery Receipt mechanism to reclaim funds from government employees, male beneficiaries and other explicitly ineligible recipients, and the government directed district collectors to recover the amounts paid to them.