Pune: District collectors across Maharashtra have been directed to carry out field-level physical verification of beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme who were unable to correctly complete the mandatory e-KYC, state women and child development department minister Aditi Tatkare said on Tuesday.In a social media post, Tatkare said although the deadline for e-KYC was Dec 31, the govt found that in several cases beneficiaries selected incorrect options while completing the process, leading to authentication failures. “To ensure that eligible women are not deprived of benefits, district collectors are instructed to conduct on-ground verification through anganwadi workers of such beneficiaries,” she stated in her post.
TOI reported this issue on Monday about beneficiaries complaining that they were not receiving their payouts despite completing e-KYC.Officials said anganwadi workers will visit beneficiaries at the local level to verify details as per the scheme’s eligibility criteria. “The objective is to ensure that only eligible women receive benefits and that genuine beneficiaries are not excluded due to technical or procedural errors,” a senior official said. The exercise is aimed at correcting discrepancies and not at arbitrarily cancelling benefits. Beneficiaries who made errors during e-KYC have been urged to cooperate with anganwadi workers during the verification process.The move followed complaints from beneficiaries across several districts who said technical glitches and procedural hurdles prevented them from completing e-KYC, raising fears of losing the monthly assistance of Rs1,500 under the scheme.In Pune, a beneficiary told TOI that she has not received assistance for the last four months despite completing e-KYC. “The field-level verification by anganwadi workers will help us,” she said.
