Ladki Bahin Yojana: Around 68 lakh accounts under Maharashtra government’s ambitious ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme have been closed due to the beneficiaries not completing the mandatory e-KYC process before the stipulated deadline. This has reduced the number of active accounts to around 1.75 crore. The deadline for completing the e-KYC process had ended on March 31. It has now been extended till April 30. Officials said that the number of accounts closed may change after the extended date.
“Out of a total of 2.43 crore accounts, around 68 lakh accounts have been closed for not completing the mandatory e-KYC process within the stipulated period,” an official said on Thursday (April 2). The state carried out this verification exercise following several complaints.
Complaints alleged that ineligible individuals, including male members and government employees, had received benefits under the scheme. The scheme provides a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to eligible women from economically weaker sections. The e-KYC process has been extended several times since November 2025.
The government distributes approximately Rs 3,700 crore to beneficiaries each month, with each eligible woman receiving Rs 1,500. Spending is expected to change due to a decrease in active accounts. The allocation for the scheme in the 2026-27 budget is Rs 26,000 crore, compared to Rs 36,000 crore in 2025-26.
The ‘Ladki Behen Yojana’ was launched by the Mahayuti government ahead of the 2024 state assembly elections. During the verification process, over 2.4 million beneficiaries were initially marked as government employees due to incorrect answers to a question asked in Marathi.
After investigation, approximately 2 million of these accounts were found eligible, while verification of the remaining cases is ongoing. The government has decided not to recover funds from beneficiaries found ineligible. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have stated that the scheme will not be discontinued.
How to update e-KYC, link missing from portal?
Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister, Aditi S. Tatkare, announced a day earlier that the date for updating eKYC has been extended to April 30, 2026. She stated that many women were unable to complete this process due to rain and hailstorms. Therefore, the date for updating eKYC has been extended. However, the eKYC link has not yet been updated on the Ladki Bahin Yojana portal . It is expected that this link will be updated soon. If you wish, you can visit your nearest CSC center or Women and Child Development office to complete this process.