Over 8 Million Beneficiaries Disqualified from Ladki Bahin Scheme Following Mandatory Bank Verification

The Maharashtra government has removed 8.1 million beneficiaries from the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin’ scheme after strict e-KYC drives exposed fraudulent enrollments and systemic structural loopholes

June 1, 2026 | Mumbai: The Department of Women and Child Development has executed a massive rationalization drive on its flagship welfare scheme, shrinking the beneficiary base from an initial 24.7 million enrollments down to 16.6 million verified women. Official data released post-April deadlines indicates that the elimination of ineligible applicants has successfully reduced the state’s fiscal deficit, saving the government approximately 12 billion rupees per month in direct benefit transfers.

The direct financial cash-transfer initiative, which originally disbursed 1,500 rupees monthly to all applicants without stringent initial filtering, faced severe scrutiny after massive inconsistencies emerged in banking and family income data. Subsequent investigations revealed that several unauthorized individuals, including government employees and male applicants, had successfully manipulated the system to access the welfare funds. In response, the administration enforced mandatory electronic Know-Your-Customer verification protocols, extending the compliance windows multiple times before freezing the final updated database.

Demographic attrition has also contributed to the declining numbers. Because the scheme’s statutory criteria strictly limits eligibility to the 21-to-65 age bracket, approximately 10,000 to 15,000 women are systematically phased out each month upon crossing the upper age limit. Concurrently, disciplinary actions have been initiated against thousands of government workers who illicitly claimed benefits, with the state issuing formal directives to respective departments to recover the misallocated funds.

The massive reduction in beneficiaries has ignited a fierce political debate across the state. While administrative leaders maintain that the policy adjustment represents a necessary pruning exercise to ensure fiscal sustainability without dissolving the welfare program, opposition leaders have sharply criticized the sudden contraction. Critics label the delayed discovery of widespread discrepancies as a significant administrative oversight and a systemic breach of public trust, demanding higher accountability regarding how public resources were monitored during the initial phases.

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