Ladki Bahin Yojana under scanner as 62 lakh women dropped after e-KYC, RTI flags payout concerns

The Maharashtra governments flagship scheme Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana is again under the scanner The scheme has witnessed a sharp decline in its beneficiary base following a statewide verification and an eKYC exerciseAccording to information obtained through a Right to Information RTI query questions over exclusions wrongful payouts and recovery of funds from ineligible beneficiaries in Ladki Bahin Yojana have raised concernsAccording to RTI information obtained by activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation the number of active beneficiaries has fallen from nearly 248 crore at its peak to 16566164 following the verification exerciseThe contraction comes despite the Directorate of Economics and Statistics having estimated even before the scheme was launched that around 247 crore women would meet its annual family income ceiling of Rs 25 lakh for eligibilityWith the beneficiary count now at around 165 crore the scheme entails a monthly expenditure of approximately Rs 248492 crore translating into an annual financial burden of around Rs 2981910 crore62 lakh women dropped from Ladki Bahin Yojana over incomplete eKYCOne of the biggest reasons for the reduction in beneficiaries was incomplete electronic verification According to the RTI data around 62 lakh women were removed from the beneficiary list because they did not complete the mandatoryeKYC processGhadge raised concerns over the impact of the digital verification requirement on women living in remote and tribal areas and those facing difficulties accessing digital servicesA staggering 62 lakh women did not complete the eKYC process which means that mainly poor women living in remote villages adivasis in jungles or those facing technical hurdles have been left out Ghadge saidHe said the government should introduce an offline KYC mechanism in areas where beneficiaries face difficulties completing the digital processWhile Rs 1500 may not mean much in urban centres it is a lifeline in remote villagesmdashpaying for medicines for the elderly or childrens school expenses Ghadge further addedHe added that the discrepancies in the figures and implementation warranted an independent audit to determine whether public funds were reaching the intended beneficiariesOver 45 lakh governmentlinked entries flaggedThe RTI information has also raised questions over payments made to beneficiaries who were allegedly ineligible under the schemes criteriaAccording to the data more than 45 lakh beneficiaries were flagged through governmentlinked records This includes approximately 442 lakh selfdeclared governmentlinked entries and 8000 verified government employeesBased on the payments involved the potential value of the unauthorised payouts is estimated at between Rs 600 crore and Rs 800 croreHowever the RTI response indicates that corresponding recovery action has not been reported The department stated that it had not received reports or data from district offices regarding the recovery of funds from ineligible government employeesThe disclosure is significant as the government had previously indicated that funds paid to ineligible beneficiaries would be recoveredDistrictwise data not providedThe RTI response has also raised concerns over transparency in the implementation of the schemeWhile districtwise information had reportedly been made available during earlier information requests the latest response did not provide a regional breakdown of the beneficiary data and related actionThe absence of districtlevel figures makes it difficult to assess where the largest exclusions occurred how many beneficiaries were identified as ineligible in individual districts and whether recoveries have actually been initiated