Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday assured that women who received financial assistance under the Ladki Bahin Yojana will not be asked to return the money even if subsequent verification finds them ineligible for the scheme.
The clarification comes amid concerns over the government’s large-scale scrutiny of beneficiaries, which has led to the removal of several names from the welfare programme. Fadnavis said the verification exercise was essential to maintain accountability and ensure that benefits reach genuinely eligible recipients.
According to the Chief Minister, the scheme was initially rolled out on the basis of self-declared information submitted by applicants so that assistance could be provided without delay. He explained that conducting a full verification before implementation would have significantly slowed the programme and delayed support for lakhs of women.
Defending the government’s decision, Fadnavis said authorities later began matching applicant data with official databases, which revealed multiple discrepancies. However, he emphasized that women who had already received payments would not face recovery proceedings.
Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare also clarified that the reduction in beneficiary numbers was not linked only to pending e-KYC verification. She said several beneficiaries were removed after authorities found that they no longer met eligibility conditions or were already receiving benefits under other government welfare programmes.
During the verification process, officials reportedly identified a range of irregularities. These included applications allegedly filed by men using women’s identities, beneficiaries linked to government employment, income-tax payers, and individuals owning vehicles that exceeded eligibility norms under the scheme.
The government maintained that repeated opportunities were given to beneficiaries to complete verification formalities. Those who failed to respond despite multiple reminders were eventually removed from the beneficiary list and their future payments were discontinued.
The Ladki Bahin Yojana remains one of Maharashtra’s flagship welfare initiatives aimed at providing financial support to eligible women, with the state government continuing efforts to streamline the scheme and eliminate irregularities while protecting genuine beneficiaries.
