Kolhapur: NCP (SP) leader and MLA Jayant Patil on Monday took a dig at the state government for making over 80 lakh women ineligible for the Rs 1,500 monthly payout under the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana launched ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.
“Today, around 80 lakh beneficiaries have been made ineligible through the eKYC process. More women who were dear to Mahayuti leaders will be betrayed by stating some reason. Do not get shocked, it is bound to happen. Had the financial issues been taken care of, the government would not have had to make lakhs of beneficiaries ineligible,” he said.
“During the Lok Sabha election, Mahayuti in Maharashtra was badly defeated and to recoup the losses, they brought in this scheme and now they have forgotten the Ladki Bahin,” he added.
At the start of the scheme, nearly 2.5 crore women were enrolled, but now the count has come down to 1.67 crore. NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule said she doubts the number. “Many more women have been dropped out of the scheme. The number of eligible women beneficiaries would be around 1.06 crore,” she said.
“After one-and-a-half years of the scheme being into implementation, the government is realizing that over 80 lakh women are ineligible. This is shocking. It is the defeat of the political and administrative establishment. We demand that the government should make the women registered at the time of launch of the scheme and start paying them as promised,” Sule added.
The Mahayuti parties had promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,100 per month. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, “The Ladke Bhau’s -- Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis -- should save on their spendings for buying the MPs and MLAs. Instead, they should pay these women the promised amount, if the government is facing financial strain.”
Vijay Wadettivar, senior Congress MLA, said Mahayuti government will be cursed by these women and the government will have to suffer because of it.
NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said it is just a start to shut down the scheme. “The intention of the government is to close down the scheme. The scheme was rolled out without any KYC and now by making KYC mandatory, the government has done what it wanted to do - to cheat.”
Government Reacts
Women and child development minister Aditi Tatkare said the eKYC process is done in all direct benefit transfer schemes. “The 80 lakh figures are not just related to eKYC, there are around 12 lakh who have an annual income of over Rs 2.5 lakh. We have received requests from some women that even after eKYC their benefit has been stopped, so we are reviewing such cases.”
