Changes due in Ladki Bahin: Ajit

In order to minimise the financial stress on the state exchequer, burdened by populist schemes announced ahead of the Assembly elections last year, on Monday deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said changes will be made in the Mahayuti government's flagship Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana.

- Faisal Malik

MUMBAI: While Pawar did not specify the nature of changes, he emphasised that the scheme will not be discontinued, even as some others will be axed.

Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, made the announcement while replying to concerns raised by legislators over the scheme. "Citizens who do not belong to the economically impoverished class have been getting benefits under the Ladki Bahin scheme. It happened because it was inaugurated in haste by the state government," said Pawar.

He however added that the government will not recover money doled out to ineligible candidates. "Instead, we have now requested all of them to withdraw their names from the scheme, the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested people to withdraw gas subsidy," he informed.