Mumbai:The Devendra Fadnavis government on Tuesday began transferring money to beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana (MMLBS), which helped the BJP-led grand coalition retain power in Maharashtra. After the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the transfer of funds was stopped. Maharashtra Child and Women Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that the December tranche of the scheme has been handed over to the beneficiaries of MMLBS in a phased manner.
Around 2.63 crore women had applied for MMLBS till the last day of application in October this year. Out of which 2,43,26,294 women have been found eligible for monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 under this scheme. Before the implementation of MCC, the government had handed over five months’ installments. In the month of November, Rs 1,500 was paid in advance before the election was announced.
“Due to non-production of Aadhaar card or other technical problems, the benefit of this scheme has not been transferred to 21 lakh 13 thousand 535 eligible women,” the source said.
Officials said they have now seeded Aadhaar cards with banks so that all eligible beneficiaries can take advantage of the schemes. In addition, they have also added new beneficiaries who apply before October 15.
“We have a total of 2.47 crore beneficiaries now,” officials said. A person who has not received any installment will be given the benefits of the scheme from the time of application. However, all installments of the scheme will be given to those who submit their applications before August 2024,” the official said.
Ms. Tatkare said that before October 9, the government had distributed five installments to more than 23.4 million beneficiaries. “The process which was halted due to the code of conduct for the assembly elections has resumed and we have collected the December installment. Today, we will transfer funds to the bank accounts of more than 6.7 lakh women in the next four-five days in a phased manner,’ she said.
After a setback in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, the Mahayuti government launched the MMLBY scheme in June this year. Under this scheme, women in the age group of 21 to 65 years who have a family income of less than 2.50 lakhs per annum are provided cash of Rs 1,500 per month. The government had allocated Rs 46,000 crore annually for MMLBY in its budget.
Mahayuti had promised to increase the monthly installment from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100 if it came to power in the manifesto of the assembly election. Speaking on the promise of Rs 2,100 per month under the scheme, Ms Tatkare said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would take a decision in the next budget.