For Maharashtra's Women, Ladki Bahin Yojana a Hit But Process is the Punishment

As women hustle to get Rs 1,500 per month under the scheme, both online & offline registration is tedious for most.

Anita Balu Thakre (36), a farm labourer from Maharashtra's Sambhaji Nagar, sat in a queue outside the primary government school in Loni Kha village.

The local authorities last week started using a section of the school as a centre for registration of beneficiaries of the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' (The Chief Minister's 'My Beloved Sister' Scheme) announced by the state government on 1 July, under which women in the age group of 21 to 65 years of age are eligible for direct cash transfer of Rs 1,500 in their accounts every month.

"I am from Bhadli village, which is about 20 kilometers from here. I cannot afford to pay for an auto or bus to bring me here, so I walked the distance," she said, adding that she had done so for the fourth consecutive day.

A mother of two, her husband does not contribute much to the house financially.

"He is a drunk, doesn't work much. I work on other people's farms and get paid Rs 200-250 per day," she said.

For women like Thakre, who earn about Rs 5,000-6,000 a month, getting to avail the scheme's benefits would mean a significant lot of financial help. Precisely why, since its rollout on 1 July in the state Budget presented by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, scores of women have been crowding registration centres across the state.

But like most government schemes, the process if the punishment.

Since the scheme's launch, crowded registration centres, confusion infused by changes in eligibility criteria and required documents, technical glitches in online the registration portal and mobile app, and issues of middlemen looking to gain 'benefits' have been recorded from across the state.

Confusion Over Documentation

"I only have an Aadhaar card. My husband never bothered to get any other documents made for me, not even a bank account," Thakre said. Having a bank account is mandatory to register for the scheme to ensure direct transfer.

On 1 July, the government launched the scheme with a registration deadline of 15 July and a mandatory requirement of several documents such as income certificate, domicile certificate, and identity proofs.

Across districts, scores of women thronged government offices to be able to acquire income and domicile certificates.

They then queued up at registration centres with the 15 July deadline in mind. Many registration centres across the state including Nagpur, Pune, Buldhana, Satara, Akola, and Yavatmal reported crowds and chaos.

Scores of women thronged talathi offices (revenue offices at village level) for income certificates. Incidents of officials illegally charging women between Rs 50-100 for issuing the certificates were reported from a few places like Amravati and Akola, following which they were suspended.

Following struggles over documentation, the government announced relaxation of rules and extended the deadline for registration till 31 August. The government also did away with the mandatory requirement of a domicile certificate. Aditi Tatkare, the state's women and child development minister announced that a ration card issued 15 years ago, a school-leaving certificate from the state, a voter ID card or proof of birth will be treated as valid instead.

The mandatory requirement of income certificate was also relaxed with officials being directed to accept red or orange ration cards instead.

Earlier, those possessing land over five acres could not benefit from the scheme. However, that condition, too, was relaxed.

Kiran Moghe, an activist from Pune who has been helping women to understand the process and register for the scheme, highlighted their struggles around documentation.

"There is confusion despite the relaxation of stringency around the required documents. Documentation has always been a problem for women, especially from the underprivileged strata, because not many families bother to have them in place for the women of the house. So, many women leave documents in their maternal homes, change cities, etc. Now, for a 65-year-old woman, how and where is she supposed to get a birth certificate from?" she said.

'Been Coming Every Day': Chaos at Centres

Despite relaxation of stringency around documents, chaos at many registration centres continues at many places

Like Thakre, women from across 18-20 villages near Loni have been coming to the centre for registration every day hoping for their turn. But for many women, having to queue up daily means losing the day's wages.

Nikita Gaikwad (23) of Loni village came to the centre for the third consecutive day on Wednesday with her two children.

"I came at 7:00 am to get ahead in the queue. It's 2:00 pm now. There are many women like me with small children, there are many who have to return and cook for the family," she said, who had come with her Aadhaar card and domicile certificate.

"But the delay here is mostly due to electricity issues. There is power cut several times a day so their computers don't work," Gaikwad said.

A farm labourer, she earns about Rs 200 per day. But with issues like scarce rains and drought-like conditions, work for her has not been regular this year.

Amrapali (33), another woman from the village, had a similar story to tell.

"We have children to feed. We don't have our own lands. We get work on some days, other days we don't. We have to make do with whatever we get paid, whenever we get work. This extra money would help," Amrapali said.

Digital Divide, Overworked Tehsildars: The Administrative Challenges

Currently, the online registrations are being accepted on the Maha E-Seva portal and the government's Nari Shakti Doot mobile application. However, digital divide, unavailability of good smartphones and internet connections in rural areas, and glitchy portals have led to women mostly crowding at the offline centres.

"Firstly, to be able to fill the form online, you need to have access to a smart phone and good internet. For most women who come from underprivileged backgrounds and are trying to register for the scheme, this is the first big challenge. Secondly, the technical language in the forms to be filled, even if it is in Marathi, is still difficult for these women to understand. The third major challenge in the online procedure is the crashing of servers of the websites and the user load that the sites are having to deal with," said social activist Renuka Kad who has been helping women register for the scheme in Sambhaji Nagar region.

Offline registrations for the scheme are being done at the state's aanganwadi centres and 'Aaple Sarkar Seva Centres' or Setu Kendras run by government authorised private parties.

Though the registration for the scheme is free of cost, many women are turning to 'madhyastis' (middlemen) to help them with the process at a cost to avoid any errors that might lead to the rejection of their applications.

"Whenever any scheme gets launched, of course there are people looking to benefit from it. So, there are these middlemen who have cropped up at several places who are trying to help women to register. But of course, it comes at a cost," Kad said.

However, given the massive response to the scheme, the strain on the administration also may become one of the key roadblocks in its implementation.

While aanganwadi workers receive remuneration for getting women registered for the scheme, the same is not given to those running the Setu Kendras where citizens usually can get their government IDs and documents authorised. On Monday, several Setu Kendras across the state called for a strike to demand the same given the extra workload.

As per local reports, over 4,000 Setu Kendras across the Nagpur region were shut on 8 July.

But that has not been the government's only administrative challenge so far.

As per the rules laid down by the government, the post of 'member secretary' of the committees to be formed for the scheme's implementation at taluka level will be held by tehsildars (land revenue officers) in the revenue department. However, citing lack of resources, manpower, and piling work for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, the Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar Association in different districts of the state submitted letters to the respective District Collectors to demand that the post be held by officials of the concerned department , i.e. women and child welfare department officials.

In the letter addressed to the chief minister, deputy chief minister, and the revenue minister of the state, the tehsildars said that they would have "no option but to deny work" related to the scheme.

Mahayuti Pushing for Scheme, Will it Be a Boost in Elections?

The response to the scheme and crowds at registration centres indicate it is a hit among the women of the state. While the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti takes a leaf out of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's electoral success in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the state government is also taking measures to tackle the challenges faced in the scheme's implementation.

Following reports of talathis charging women, CM Shinde on 5 July warned of stringent action against any officials attempting to take bribes or misbehave with women who seek to register for the scheme.

In Nashik, both BJP and Shiv Sena have opened centres specifically for the registration of the scheme.

To encourage more women to register, the Satara district administration has formed groups of officials to take the registration process at their doorstep using the mobile app. The Satara District Co-operative Bank has also been assisting women to open Jan Dhan accounts as a bank account is a mandatory requirement.

Senior leaders of the three Mahayuti parties, meanwhile, have been promoting and popularising the scheme in a bid to attract women voters in the upcoming elections after the alliance's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

As per a survey by Lokniti-CSDS, 42% women (17% for the Congress and 25% for its allies) voted for the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections while 43% (27% for the BJP and 16% for its allies) voted for the Mahayuti in the state.

While the Mahayuti maintains a one percentage point lead, expanding its base among women may come as a significant share needed to compensate for its losses among other sections of voters, as was seen in the general elections.

(With inputs from Loksatta, ABP Majha, The Indian Express, and Hindustan Times.)