Women from different parts of Maharashtra gathered in Mumbai on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to protest against the suspended instalments of the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. At the protest, led by the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) at Azad Maidan, they demanded immediate payment of the outstanding instalments under the scheme and asked the government to streamline the e-KYC process as soon as possible, The Hindu reported.

Source: The Hindu

The march was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. from Azad Maidan towards Mantralaya, the state government headquarters, with senior AIDWA leaders including former MP Brinda Karat, AIDWA national president P. K. Sreemathy and national vice-president Mariam Dhawale among those leading it. The organisation had announced the protest over the disruption of payments under the Ladki Bahin scheme, saying numerous eligible women faced sudden payment suspensions despite completing the mandatory e-KYC verification.

Source: Mirror Now

"It is about the principle of accountability"

CPI(M) leader and AIDWA founder member Brinda Karat told The Hindu: "It's about the principle of accountability." Protesters at the maidan asked why their instalments had been stopped and why the e-KYC portal was not working for them, and recalled that a higher amount of Rs 2,100 a month had been promised when the government contested the elections.

Source: The Hindu

Meena Janjal of Akola said several women in her region were landless labourers who had not known about the KYC requirement, so their money had stopped some time ago. She said that even women who had completed e-KYC were facing problems this year: "They have not received their instalment since February 2026." Other women at the protest said the monthly amount had helped with family medicine and children's books at a time when the prices of fuel, food and daily necessities have risen.

Source: The Hindu

Delegation meets minister; government response conveyed

A delegation of AIDWA leaders led by Mariam Dhawale met Maharashtra government officials and minister Chhagan Bhujbal with the demands. AIDWA state general secretary Prachi Hatiwlekar told The Hindu that the delegation was asked to submit the applications of all women whose e-KYC has been completed, and was told that once these applications are submitted at the tehsil level, their instalments will be released. The delegation also raised ration supplies for below-poverty-line families, and was told action would be taken against shops that did not provide the allocated ration, she said.

Source: The Hindu

The Ladki Bahin scheme, launched in 2024, pays Rs 1,500 a month to eligible women and is one of the Maharashtra government's flagship welfare programmes. AIDWA has been running a statewide campaign for the re-inclusion of women it says were dropped from the scheme during the verification and e-KYC drive. What happens next depends on whether the tehsil-level application process the government described to the delegation actually restarts payments for the women who marched on Tuesday.

Source: Mumbai News