Mumbai, Apr 1 (PTI) Around 68 lakh accounts under the Maharashtra government’s flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana were closed after beneficiaries failed to complete the mandatory e-KYC process before the deadline, reducing the number of active accounts to about 1.75 crore, officials said on Wednesday.
The deadline for completing e-KYC, which expired on March 31, has now been extended till April 30, and officials indicated that the number of closed accounts could change following the extension.
“About 68 lakh accounts out of a total of 2.43 crore have been closed after they did not complete the mandatory e-KYC process within the stipulated period,” officials added.
The state conducted the verification exercise after receiving complaints that ineligible persons, including male members and government employees, had received benefits under the scheme, which provides a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to eligible women from financially weaker sections.
The e-KYC process has been extended multiple times since November 2025.
The government disburses around Rs 3,700 crore every month to beneficiaries, with each eligible woman receiving Rs 1,500. With the reduction in active accounts, the outgo is expected to change. The allocation for the scheme in the 2026-27 budget stands at Rs 26,000 crore, compared with Rs 36,000 crore in 2025-26.
The Ladki Bahin Yojana was launched by the Mahayuti government ahead of the 2024 state assembly elections.
During the verification process, over 24 lakh beneficiaries were earlier marked as government employees due to a question in Marathi that led to incorrect responses. After scrutiny, around 20 lakh of these accounts were found to be eligible, while verification of the remaining cases is ongoing.
The government has decided not to recover funds from beneficiaries who were found ineligible. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have said that the scheme will never be discontinued. PTI ND NSK
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