Application of any beneficiary under ‘Girl Sister Scheme’ should not be rejected: Tatkare!

Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare on Monday clarified that no beneficiary’s application has been rejected under the government’s flagship ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’.

He said that information has been received from the concerned departments about the applicants who do not fulfill the age and income criteria. Apart from this, details of applicants who have registered their vehicles from RTO and those availing benefits of other government schemes have also been noted.

He said that the benefits of some applicants have been suspended due to non-completion of e-KYC within the stipulated period.

Tatkare was responding to media reports that claimed that around 80 lakh women have been largely excluded from the scheme, which had sparked a political and economic debate in Maharashtra. Reports said that after the e-KYC deadline ended, the number of active beneficiaries dropped from 2.46 crore to around 1.66 crore.

He assured that applicants who have completed e-KYC, those who do not have vehicle registration, and those whose benefits have been suspended will be re-verified. He said that I assure you that all these cases will be re-verified by the department.

Tatkare emphasized that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar have taken a clear stand that injustice will not be done to any dear sister in Maharashtra.

Opposition leaders criticized the government over the alleged boycott. NCP (SP) working president and MP Supriya Sule said the government should ensure that no eligible woman is deprived due to technical reasons.

He said that every sister of Maharashtra should get the benefits of Girl Sister Scheme regularly, this is our clear stand.

Sule said that initially, 2.38 crore women had benefited under the scheme, and Rs 17,505 crore had been disbursed till December 2024. Later, this number increased to 2.46-2.48 crore. After e-KYC was made mandatory, the numbers declined.

Citing data from the portal, he said only 1.12 crore applications were received and 1.06 crore were approved, which means more than 1.25 crore women were disqualified.

He demanded a high-level investigation and independent audit of the scheme.

He said that how and to whom the money of honest taxpayers of Maharashtra was misdirected, who is responsible for it and who were the real beneficiaries, all this should be brought before Maharashtra in a transparent manner.