Fadnavis govt to trace ‘ineligible’ women who availed of Ladki Bahin scheme’s benefits; NCP(SP) warns stir

Speaking to reporters successful Shirdi Saturday, Minister for Women and Child Welfare Aditi Tatkare said, “We are undertaking the cross-verification process. Those who are ineligible and inactive availed of the benefits of the strategy volition beryllium asked to instrumentality the money.”

Tatkare, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, said the cross-verification is happening successful 5 areas. “One of them is the criteria of yearly income of up to Rs 2.50 lakh. Those with a yearly income supra Rs 2.50 lakh are being scrutinised. Besides, we person besides received complaints that women who person four-wheelers person besides availed of the benefits. Then determination are joined women who are surviving extracurricular Maharashtra but inactive took the benefit… We person besides recovered duplicate applications… Besides, it has been recovered that immoderate person taken the payment of 2 antithetic authorities schemes.”

Tatkare, however, added that immoderate ineligible women person travel guardant themselves and started returning the money. “I privation to convey the womenfolk who person taken the honorable basal of returning the wealth aft realising that they were not eligible for the scheme,” she said.

The curate said astir 4,000 women person already travel guardant successful this manner. “This is an approximate number. There could beryllium much women who are ineligible. In December, we received immoderate 100-150 forms from women who were ineligible and this month, we are receiving specified forms connected a large-scale,” she said.

The cross-verification, being done successful tandem with the transport section and the income taxation section is “a continuous process and it volition beryllium carried retired consistently”, she mentioned.

The wealth returned volition spell to the authorities treasurer. “Who says we are not taking backmost the money? We are successful interaction with the concern section and the readying department. These departments volition assistance america make a abstracted caput and done it the wealth volition spell to the authorities treasury. This refunded wealth volition beryllium utilized for different nationalist projects,” Tatkare said.

The curate appealed to women to travel guardant and instrumentality the wealth if they availed of the scheme’s payment contempt being ineligible.

Reacting to Tatkare’s statement, the NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said his enactment volition not let the Mahayuti authorities to humiliate womenfolk successful this manner. “First, the authorities doled retired the magnitude without immoderate scrutiny. This was done intentionally and brazenly to get the votes of women beneficiaries. And present erstwhile the authorities has travel to powerfulness done the votes, the womenfolk are being shown the door. This is injustice and a deliberate effort to humiliate women. Our enactment volition not let this,” Tapase said.

NCP(SP) person Vidya Chavan, meanwhile, warned of protests. “As per the accusation disposable from authorities sources, retired of the 2.5 crore women who person availed of the payment of the scheme, astatine slightest 65 lakh volition beryllium ineligible. If the authorities decides to marque women ineligible connected specified a ample standard aft getting the payment of their ballot and coming to power, we volition instrumentality to the streets and not let the authorities to play specified a cheating game,” she said.

The BJP emerged arsenic the single-largest enactment successful the precocious held Assembly polls successful the state, winning 132 seats retired of the 149 it contested. The Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde won 57 and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar bagged 41 seats. Together, the Mahayuti secured 230 seats retired of the 288 successful Maharashtra.