Mumbai: In a major step towards streamlining Maharashtra’s flagship ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has approved the sharing of income tax return data with the state’s Women and Child Development Department. This move will enable the government to identify and eliminate ineligible beneficiaries, especially women who are income tax payers, from the scheme.
The scheme, launched ahead of the Assembly elections, was originally intended for economically weaker women with an annual income below ₹2.5 lakh. However, due to the lack of a stringent verification process at the time of rollout, the number of applicants surged to over 2.52 crore many of whom were later found to be ineligible, including salaried women and taxpaying professionals.
While the government had initially bypassed thorough scrutiny to ensure swift implementation before the polls, it had promised to conduct a post-election audit of the beneficiary list. Based on data already available, government employees and women availing of other welfare schemes were excluded. However, identifying taxpayers required access to CBDT’s data, for which the state had approached the Union Finance Ministry. That approval has now come through.
According to officials from the Women and Child Development Department, this tax data will be matched against the beneficiary database. Women who pay income tax and earn more than Rs 2.5 lakh a year will no longer be eligible for the scheme. This step will help the government save money and ensure that the support goes only to those who really need it.
This data-driven cleanup marks a significant shift toward targeted welfare delivery and reinforces the original intent of the Ladki Bahin Yojana to support the state’s most economically disadvantaged women.
