New applicants for ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme will not get benefits till elections are over

Mumbai:The monthly installment of ‘CM My Beloved Sister’ scheme is unlikely to be credited to the bank accounts of the new beneficiaries till completion of Maharashtra Assembly election. Officials said that new beneficiaries of the scheme will not be paid if the election commission of India (ECI) does not give permission. However, the department of child and women development have so far credited the benefits to around 2.34 crore women’s accounts till November 2024 before imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) on October 15.

According to the state branch of the ECI, the funds cannot be distributed to the beneficiaries without prior permission of the ECI.

After its debacle in the Lok Sabha election, the Mahayuti government had announced the the scheme, which covers married, divorced and destitute women in the 21-65 age groups, who will get Rs 1,500 per month. The government has earmarked Rs 46,000 crore for it in this year;s budget.

The scheme has already received a tremendous response from the women, which forced the government to extend the deadline for making applications till October 15.

A senior official from the state government said that they have identified around 2.34 crore beneficiaries for the scheme after the scrutiny. All of them have been given the benefits till November as the government had anticipated difficulties during the imposition of model code of conduct for the Assembly election. However, the applications received after the second week of this month may have to wait till the Assembly election results to get benefit.

“Once the security of new applications is completed, we will approach the ECI seeking permission to disburse the benefits of the scheme,” the senior official said. More than 10 lakh women may be affected by this.

When contacted, Dr. Kiran Kulkarni. Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Maharashtra told this newspaper, “General instructions of MCC say that new scheme or identification of new beneficiaries for old schemes is not allowed during the imposition of MCC in the state. Funds cannot be distributed without prior permission of ECI for welfare schemes.”