Adequate Steps Have Been Taken By State: Bombay HC Closes PIL Seeking Proper Implementation Of Ladki Bahin Scheme
The Bombay High Court has closed a PIL seeking directions to the State Government of Maharashtra to take appropriate steps so that all eligible women under the Ladki Bahin Scheme can seek benefits.
The Court noted that "... adequate steps appear to have been taken by the State to facilitate the eligible women seeking benefit under the scheme...".
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar observed, " We, while taking note of the steps taken by the State for appropriate implementation of the scheme and to facilitate the eligible women to be able to make their applications, provide that in case of any change or alteration which may require fresh applications to be filled in by the eligible women, the State shall take appropriate steps so that all eligible women are able to exercise their right of seeking benefit under the altered/new scheme."
The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Sumedha Rao while the Respondent was represented by Additional Government Pleader Abhay L. Patki.
The Petition was filed in the backdrop of the alleged situation that on the introduction of the scheme, various women were facing problems for filling up and uploading their applications. The scheme was introduced in the month of June 2024 and has been thereafter revised at least two times.
The Deputy Secretary of the department concerned, in the affidavit, submitted adequate steps have been taken for facilitating the eligible women to apply under the scheme so that they can get the benefit of the scheme. It was stated that earlier, considering the difficulties faced by such women, as many as 11 agencies of different departments were entrusted to facilitate the eligible women to make the applications and according to the details given in the said affidavit, out of 2,51,66,912 applications which were uploaded with the help of these 11 agencies, 2,43,62,330 applications have been found to meet the eligibility criteria and about 90,000 applications have been rejected.
While stating that though adequate steps appear to have been taken by the State to facilitate the eligible women seeking benefit under the scheme, the Court took note of the apprehensions expressed by the Counsel for the Petitioner that there may be new problems while making and uploading fresh applications in view of the fact that the scheme has been altered/revised. It thus asked the State to take care of same.
The PIL was accordingly disposed of.
Cause Title: Prameya Welfare Foundation vs. State of Maharashtrab (2025:BHC-OS:23-DB)
Appearances:
Petitioner- Advocate Sumedha Rao, Advocate Rumana Bagdadi
Respondent- Additional Government Pleader Abhay L. Patki, Additional Government Pleader Sheetal Malvankar
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