Mumbai: The Mahayuti government seems to be in a hurry to transfer the first two instalments to the beneficiaries of Maajhi Ladki Bahin. It wants to do so before Raksha Bandhan on August 19.
In a message to all the district collectors, the government has asked them to forward the list of eligible beneficiaries as soon as possible. The government wants the transfer to happen before the state assembly election is announced. The government has clarified that approvals by the assembly level committees can be obtained post facto, adding that the district guardian minister's approval could be taken if there were issues in getting approvals by the committees.
About The Norms
As per the norms, each district has a committee under the collector. For each assembly segment a separate committee is expected to approve the list of beneficiaries which will be forwarded to the collector. The government has asked the collectors to forward the list of eligible beneficiaries, even if they have not been approved by the assembly level committees.
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The state cabinet had given its approval on August 7 meeting, according to the notice, signed by Dr. Anoopkumar Yadav, secretary of Women and Child Development Department. Interestingly, the state government has issued as many as 9 orders ever since the scheme has been approved.
The first order was issued on June 28 and clarifications/modifications issued subsequently. The scheme has received huge response across the state where approximately 1.4 crore applicants have registered online. The finance department has given topmost priority for raising the funds for the first two disbursals.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar Hits Out At Opposition
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in charge of the finance department, hit out at the opposition at a rally in Nashik, saying, “I have presented the budget for 10 years. The opposition should have proper information before making statements.”
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, also targeted the oposition parties. In a speech in Thane he accused them of spreading rumours about his government's flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme for women, and asked people to be cautious of such "stepbrothers".
"Citizens, especially women in the state, should be cautious of the 'savatra bhau' (stepbrothers) who spread all kinds of rumours about the Ladki Bahin scheme. So far, I have only one sister. Now, I have got lakhs of sisters across the state," CM declared.
The state government has made a provision of Rs 45,000 crore for the Ladki Bahin scheme, Shinde said, adding that there was no doubt the scheme would remain operational in future as well. He reiterated that the first instalment of two months under the scheme would be credited into the accounts of eligible women on August 17.
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