The beloved sister scheme, started by the state government just before the assembly elections, has once again come into discussion. Under this scheme, eligible women in the state were being provided financial assistance of 1500 rupees per month. It is said that this scheme garnered significant support for the grand alliance government from women. However, due to the increasing financial burden of the scheme and irregularities in applications, the government has now started taking strict measures.
It has emerged that the beloved sister scheme is putting a significant strain on the state's treasury. Complaints have also surfaced about funds from other departments being diverted for this scheme. Nevertheless, the government had previously clarified that the scheme would not be discontinued under any circumstances. However, certain terms and conditions were applied for the beneficiaries. It has been revealed that many women applied even though they did not meet those conditions, and initially, they were given installments.
After this, the government started a thorough scrutiny of the applications. In this scrutiny, the names of thousands of women were removed from the scheme. Currently, e-KYC has been made mandatory to receive the installment of the Ladki Bahini scheme. The government had clarified that if e-KYC is not completed, the benefits will be stopped. However, complaints are emerging that money has not been deposited in the accounts of many women even after completing KYC.
Against this backdrop, significant information has now emerged from Yavatmal district. Despite completing KYC, the installment of as many as 58,000 Ladki Bahinis has been stopped. A detailed report regarding this has been sent by the Women and Child Welfare Department to the Yavatmal administration, and direct home inquiry orders have been issued in this matter.
According to this order, Anganwadi workers will visit the homes of the concerned women to conduct an actual inquiry. It will be checked whether the beneficiary woman resides there, her income, the family situation, and whether she meets the criteria of the scheme. It is mandatory to submit the report of this inquiry to the Women and Child Welfare Department within the next four days. After this report, it will be decided whether the 58,000 women concerned are eligible or ineligible. Women who have availed the benefits of the Ladki Behen scheme outside the rules may be excluded from the scheme after this inquiry. As a result, there is currently great unrest among the beneficiary women across the state.