Mumbai, May 5 : After e-KYC correction deadline ended last month, around 1.88 crore women are eligible for the Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharashtra.

The state government had extended the deadline for correction in e-KYC process for the Ladki Bahin scheme till April 30, officials said on Monday

"After the deadline end as per the data with Women and Child development department, around 1.88 crore women submitted the application for completion of process. In February, last payout for Ladki Bahin was to 1.75 crore beneficiary. Now after receiving the funds from the Finance department, payout for March and April will be given soon," an official from the Women and Child Development department said.

Earlier, about 68 lakh accounts out of a total of 2.43 crore under the Maharashtra's flagship 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' have been closed permanently after these accounts failed to complete the mandatory e-KYC process.

While the deadline to complete it was March 31, it has now been extended to April 30, which might result in increase in the numbers of closed welfare scheme beneficiary accounts.

The state releases around Rs 3,700 crore every month for around 2.25 crore beneficiaries, with each eligible woman receiving Rs 1,500 per month. Now, the amount will be reduced.

The state government in the annual budget for 2026-27 has slashed the allocation to the Ladki Bahin Yojana to Rs 26,000 crore against Rs 36,000 crore in 2025-26.

The state government had carried out e-KYC exercise following complaints that male members were receiving benefits under the scheme or that some government employees had been registered as beneficiaries.

The e-KYC process has received four extensions. The first was in November 2025, later December 2025, and then till March 2026. The deadline was extended till April 30, 2026.

The Ladki Bahin Yojana was launched by the MahaYuti government ahead of the state Assembly elections held in November 2024.

The state government provides a monthly financial aid of Rs 1,500 under the Ladki Bahin Yojana to the eligible women beneficiaries.

While the scheme has put significant pressure on state finances, it is widely seen as one of the key factors behind the massive electoral victory of the MahaYuti government.

A wrongly framed question, misinterpreted during the e-KYC process had earlier resulted in more than 24 lakh beneficiaries being wrongly classified as state government employees, leading to a halt in their monthly dole of Rs 1,500.

The problematic question in Marathi read, "Tumchya Gharatle koni sarkari nokrit nahi na?' (Nobody in your family works for the government, right?).

Respondents who should have responded with a 'No' are said to have written 'Yes' due to the framing of the question.

Following the scrutiny of these 24 lakh scheme beneficiary accounts, 20 lakh have found to be genuine while scrutiny for the rest is pending.

Despite the benefits taken by those who were not eligible for it, the state government has already taken a policy decision not to take back money from them.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have repeatedly said that the Maharashtra government will not close the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

/IANS