Women who were excluded from the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana due to technical errors or incomplete e-KYC may still have an opportunity to restore their benefits, according to Minister of State for Women and Child Development Meghana Bordikar. She made this statement to TOI on Monday.
This development comes days after nearly 70 lakh beneficiaries were found ineligible following a large-scale e-KYC and eligibility verification exercise conducted by the state government. The minister clarified that while the deadline for e-KYC completion has ended and the government has yet to take a policy decision on any extension, genuine beneficiaries who could not complete the process due to technical reasons may approach district Women and Child Development officials for assistance. She added that exceptions would be made only after proper verification.
The state government had made e-KYC mandatory for beneficiaries to continue receiving assistance under the scheme. However, officials revealed that lakhs of women were excluded because of incomplete documentation, Aadhaar mismatches, bank account issues, and technical glitches during the verification process. Many women and organisations have alleged that even eligible beneficiaries were removed from the list despite attempting to complete the process.
For instance, Maya W, a sanitation worker, said she had been receiving instalments until January before the payments suddenly stopped. She stated, "I uploaded my e-KYC documents but have not received any acknowledgement or payment for the last four months." Meanwhile, the government released a combined instalment of Rs 3,000 covering March and April into beneficiaries' bank accounts last week.
