State govt reopens e-KYC portal for Ladki Bahin beneficiaries to rectify errors till March 31

Kolhapur: State govt has reactivated the online e-KYC portal for Ladki Bahin beneficiaries to rectify errors till March 31 to continue receiving the monthly dole of Rs 1,500. The move comes a day after anganwadi workers and helpers across Maharashtra boycotted the physical verification drive under the scheme. In a notification issued on Friday, the women and child welfare department announced that beneficiaries who chose incorrect options, such as marking themselves as govt employees or pensioners, could now correct their details online till March 31.According to officials, 1.12 crore applications were submitted for Aadhaar authentication, of which 1.06 crore have been processed. Initially, 2.43 crore women enrolled in the scheme and received the monthly payouts. The scheme has been politically significant for Mahayuti govt, which estimates it to cost around Rs 45,000 crore annually and plans to increase the monthly benefit to Rs 2,100 in line with its election promise.The Aadhaar-based verification was introduced to eliminate ineligible beneficiaries after it was found that some govt staffers, pensioners and even men were receiving the monthly installment. The extended e-KYC deadline had ended on Dec 31 last year, but lakhs of women were filtered out due to incorrect declarations.Several beneficiaries said they learned of their ineligibility only after payments stopped. Chetana Gawali, daughter of a security guard, said she selected the wrong option at a Maja eSeva Kendra and was told she could file a complaint if she wished. Later, anganwadi workers collected documents and charged Rs 50 per application before boycotting the verification exercise. "As soon as I heard the portal was reopened, I immediately rectified the details," she said.The portal now opens with a pop-up clarifying that only those who made selection errors can reapply. Beneficiaries enter their Aadhaar number and captcha, receive an OTP and on successful authentication the system confirms completion with a green bar.Govt released installments up to Dec last year only for those who had completed e-KYC in time. Those who missed out due to wrong selections did not receive payments after Nov and are likely to get a lump-sum of Rs 4,500 for the months of Dec, Jan and Feb once their e-KYC is cleared.