Nagpur: Maharashtra Government announced that over one crore eligible women in the State will start receiving Rs 1,500 per month under the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin’ scheme, which will roll-out on August 17, two days ahead of the Raksha Bandhan festival. Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on August 19. They will receive the aid for July and August worth Rs 3,000 in one go.
However, the Aadhar linkages for 28 lakh accounts from the 1.3 crore eligible applicants were found to have problems.
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Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
The State Government has received 1.5 crore applications so far and the figure could even reach 2 crores by the application deadline of August 31. This deadline is only for the first phase of the scheme. The applications will continue even August 31, a report said.
The scheme provides an aid of Rs 1500 per month to married, divorced, widowed, deserted and destitute women whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh and who are domiciled in the state. One eligible unmarried woman from each family will also be considered for the scheme. It is meant for women between the ages of 21 and 65 years.
With just days remaining before the official launch of Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Women and Child Development Department announced that it has successfully transferred Rs 3,000 into select bank accounts of beneficiaries on a trial basis. This amount covers the first two months of the scheme.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde confirmed the trial payments, stating, “We have lived up to our promise. We said we would transfer Rs 3,000 (for two months) to women beneficiaries whose bank details have been verified.”
The program, expected to cost Rs 46,000 crore annually, is being rolled out a few months before the State Assembly elections scheduled for October.
The Shinde-led government is positioning the financial assistance as a Raksha Bandhan gift to women, celebrating the festival on Monday. The state government, which includes Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, aims to highlight the scheme’s benefits as part of its election strategy.
Previously the government had set August 31 as the registration deadline for the scheme, but it has now been extended. Women who meet the eligibility criteria after August 31 will also start receiving Rs 1,500 per month in their bank accounts.
