With just days remaining before the official launch of Maharashtra’s “Ladki Bahin Yojana,” the Women and Child Development Department announced on Wednesday 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 “Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana,” introduced in the state’s budget at the end of June, will provide Rs 1,500 per month to underprivileged women aged 21 to 65. 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.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that over one crore eligible women in the state will begin receiving Rs 1,500 per month under the government’s ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme, set to launch on August 17.
Fadnavis informed reporters that some women have already received Rs 3,000 as a trial run installment for the first two months. The scheme will officially commence this Saturday, with the initial month being retroactively set to July, allowing eligible women to receive a total of Rs 3,000 as their first payment.
The scheme, introduced in the supplementary budget, is expected to cost Rs 46,000 crore annually. This is a flagship scheme of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, mirroring Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Ladli Behna Yojana,’ a program initiated by the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan administration.
With Maharashtra’s assembly elections likely scheduled for October or November, 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.
Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare confirmed that approximately 1.35 crore women are eligible for the scheme.
Tatkare said that previously the government had set August 31 as the registration deadline for the scheme, but it has now been extended.
“Consequently, women who meet the eligibility criteria after August 31 will also start receiving Rs 1,500 per month in their bank accounts,” the minister added.