Nagpur: The Maharashtra Government on Tuesday further extended the deadline for submission of applications by eligible candidates under the Mukhyamantri Ladli Bahin Yojana, a financial assistance scheme for women, up to August 31.
The MahaYuti government also raised the age limit of the eligible candidates from 60 to 65 years, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced in the State Assembly.
Pawar announced the scheme recently while presenting the state budget for 2024-25, which proposes a monthly aid of Rs 1,500 to eligible women above 21 years of age. Pawar said the eligible women can get financial assistance from July 1 even though they can submit the applications till August 31.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, during his reply to the debate on the Governor’s address, had announced that the deadline for submission of applications will be extended considering the overwhelming response received for the scheme from women across the state.
Shinde accused the opposition of spreading false narratives against the government. “You can’t fool people all the time,” he said.
He asked beneficiary women not to pay bribes to officials to get themselves registered for the scheme. “If someone asks for money, lodge a complaint and the concerned official will be suspended,” the Chief Minister said.
Pawar also announced that the government has relaxed the condition of domicile certificates to be submitted by the eligible women to get the benefits of the scheme. Now, if the eligible women do not have a domicile certificate, they can submit their ration card/ Voter ID/ school leaving certificate/birth certificate as the supporting document.
The government has also done away with the condition of five acres of agricultural land as the eligibility criteria. If a woman born abroad is married to a man domiciled in Maharashtra, her husband’s birth certificate/school leaving certificate/domicile certificate will be accepted.
Moreover, the government also announced to do away with the condition of Rs 2.5 lakh income proof for families which have yellow and orange ration cards. The government has announced that one eligible unmarried woman from a family will also be given the benefit under the scheme.
