‘Scheme to buy votes?’: Opposition asks why 92 lakh Ladki Bahin beneficiaries were checked after polls

Opposition leaders also sought to know why beneficiaries who were eventually found to be ineligible continued receiving payments for months before the verification exercise was completed.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the scheme had been brought in “to buy votes” before the elections and demanded recovery of the money as well as action against officials responsible for the payments.

“These 92 lakh beneficiaries were given money. Who is going to recover it? The then Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, the entire Cabinet, the secretary of the Women and Child Development department and everyone who approved these payments should be held responsible. Their assets should be attached and the money recovered,” Raut said.

Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar questioned the timing of the verification exercise. “If 92 lakh women were ineligible, why were they paid? And if they were eligible then, why are they being removed now?” Wadettiwar asked.

Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the government of making promises before the election and changing course afterwards.

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“The government promised Rs 2,100 after elections. That promise remains unfulfilled and now 92 lakh beneficiaries have been removed in the name of eKYC. The government will have to account for every rupee spent under the scheme,” Sapkal said.

NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto also questioned the steady rise in the number of deletions.

“First it was 26 lakh, then 80 lakh and now 92 lakh. If so many beneficiaries did not satisfy the conditions, why were they paid in the first place?” Crasto said.

Government defends verification exercise

Ministers in the Mahayuti government rejected the criticism, saying those removed did not satisfy the scheme’s eligibility conditions.

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Minister Uday Samant said some beneficiaries were government employees, some belonged to families with incomes above the prescribed ceiling and some men had also received benefits. “No eligible woman has been removed from the scheme,” Samant said.

Minister Sanjay Shirsat said the verification exercise would continue. “Those who do not satisfy the conditions are being removed. The scheme is not being stopped,” he said.

Earlier, Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare had said the mandatory eKYC exercise could not begin immediately after the scheme’s launch because the Assembly election and the Model Code of Conduct intervened. According to the government, the verification exercise began after the new government assumed office.

What The Indian Express reported

The Indian Express reported on Sunday that more than 92 lakh beneficiaries—nearly 38 per cent of the scheme’s peak enrolment of 2.43 crore women—had been removed following the verification exercise, significantly higher than the around 80 lakh deletions disclosed publicly earlier.

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Government records reviewed by The Indian Express showed that nearly 62 lakh beneficiaries were removed for not completing eKYC, while others were found to have exceeded the income ceiling, belonged to government employees’ families, were already receiving benefits under other schemes, or failed other eligibility conditions. Officials estimated that those later found ineligible had received around Rs 14,000 crore before payments were stopped.