Bhujbal lashes out at Pawar, supports Munde

A sulking Chhagan Bhujbal took a swipe at his party boss Ajit Pawar, saying that voters are indeed the boss of Pawar.

- Faisal Malik and Saurabha Kulshreshtha

MUMBAI: The state government's women and child development (WCD) department has started linking the data of beneficiaries collected for the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana with those of all other existing schemes, to weed out a sizeable chunk of payees and relieve the government of mounting financial pressures.

Through this act, at least 25% of the 2.46 crore beneficiaries are expected to be removed, which will help the government save ₹900 crore of the ₹3690 crore spent every month on the scheme.

Apart from those paying income tax, the government will sift out those who are also benefiting from schemes like Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana (a pension scheme for destitute women) under which over 25 lakh women get ₹1500 a month, the Namo Shetkari Samman Yojana (cash benefit announced in 2019 at the Centre under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi and replicated by the state) under which 94 lakh people get ₹1000 a month.

Other government schemes through which farmers get cash benefits for purchasing farm equipment will also be linked with the Ladki Bahin list.

On November 25, 2024, HT was the first to report that a day after the Mahayuti's landslide win in the Maharashtra assembly election on November 23, propelled by the Ladki Bahin Yojana, bureaucrats were looking to renegotiate the scheme's fine print.

Soon after CM Devendra Fadnavis assumed office, he announced that the list of beneficiaries would be trimmed, as many undeserving candidates had crept in.

The state government has already distributed ₹21,600 crore through six instalments since the scheme was launched on July 1, 2024.