Clutching firmly onto a bundle of important “kaagaz”, Kalpana Sahani, resident of Malad’s Ambujwadi, finally reaches the desk to fill the form for the ‘‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana”, after an arduous wait of six hours. It was only a few days ago that women in the locality learnt about the new government scheme that comes bearing the promise of a monthly monetary assistance and a whole lot of hope.
“We have been told that if we fill all the documents, women will get Rs 1,500 every month,” says Pramila Khajure, awaiting her turn.
Across the state, the applications for eligible women commenced on July 1. According to the guidelines, the registration can be fulfilled online through ‘Narishakti Doot’ app or through Anganwadi workers and Setu Kendras, who have been roped in to assist women in the physical and online form filling procedure.
While the process sounds simple in theory, registration centres have been riddled with problems — from long wait to slow internet, with the beneficiaries as well as the Anganwadi and NGO workers facing the brunt. The final date of submission has now been locked at August 31.
Problems aside, the scheme has been getting a huge response, with the Chief Minister’s Office saying that more than 53 lakh have so far registered. The scheme is set to be launched on August 15 and as per government estimates, the total number of beneficiaries could go up to 1.25 crore. “If we match this number, the total population that will benefit could range between 4.5 to 5 crore,” said the official.
Scrambling for documents
Patiently furnishing the documents after a long wait, Kalpana says, “Today, my neighbour is taking care of my kids and I put my tailoring work on hold to fill the documents. After waiting since 10 am, my turn finally came now at 3 pm.”
At Ambujwadi registration centre in Malad, where an NGO camp is assisting with the application process, women — most of them working as house helps in the nearby MHADA buildings — say that the Rs 1,500 under the scheme will aid in running their households. Completing the time-consuming registration work comes at the cost of their livelihood as most of the women have taken leave or half-day off from work.
Panchshila Nikalje, a house help, says, “Most women have taken leave to complete the application process… The biggest hurdle for us right now is the documentation process. I have been coming here daily for three-four days as I have been facing issues with voter ID.”
Like Nikalje, many are facing difficulties in procuring the documents. As per the guidelines, the women are required to furnish either ration card or voter ID that are at least 15 years old or school leaving certificate or birth certificate. Besides this, they are required to furnish income certificate or bank passbook and their Aadhaar card.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
“Women are concerned and do not want to miss out on the scheme. For us Rs 1,500 is a significant amount. Hence we have been missing work and running around to get the documentats,” added Nikalje.
Kisan Choure, a local activist who works with pavement dwellers, said, “Homeless women are among the most marginalised who should have access to this monetary scheme. But how can they furnish the documents on income or ration cards when they have no steady livelihood. Even if they apply for ration cards now, the scheme requires the document to be at least 15 years old.”
Connectivity woes
Across centres, slow internet has emerged as one of the biggest hurdles. Inside a anganwadi at Bhandup’s Jokim compound, a group of women, who found out about the scheme through WhatsApp messages and phone calls from the Anganwadi workers, assist each other with the registration process.
While the Anganwadi workers guide them through filling the physical form, the process gets stuck when they arrive at the final stage of online submission on the Narishakti Doot app.
Sneha Sawant, an anganwadi worker, told The Indian Express, “With slow internet, we are facing a lot of problems in the online process. Even if we manage to somehow fill in the details, the OTP number is generated very late. To make sure that we have the details at least, we are filling the offline forms as well. We have been asked by our supervisors to try the online submissions during the night, hoping for better connectivity. But even at night, I face similar issues.”
In a bid to highlight the issue of snail-paced online registrations, Anganwadi workers staged a protest at Azad Maidan on July 10, demanding a better process.
Sangita Kamble, who runs an anganwadi at Trombay’s Samta chawl in Mankhurd, said that for nearly 200 offline forms she filled over the past few days, only 10-15 online forms have been filled so far.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kamble said, “The app is extremely slow and with every passing day, the bundle of physical forms is increasing and so is the gap in filling the online forms. At this pace, we won’t be able to fill the form even in a year’s time. This is also interrupting our routine work at Anganwadis.”
“Even the Narishaki Doot app itself is posing several problems as every day there is a new update on the application,” lamented another Anganwadi worker.
Levying charges
Even as the scheme enables free registration, women are allegedly being levied with charges for the submission of the forms. Bhagwan Madhe, a Nashik-based activist alleged that some centres were charging a fee of Rs 250-Rs 300 from women seeking assistance with registration in tribal talukas.
“At the gram panchayat level in small villages, the process for online registration for the Ladki Bahini scheme is yet to begin. Since women are worried about the deadline, many are heading to centres in cities where they are being wrongfully charged a fee. At one centre in the Trimbakeshwar, I saw them charging Rs 250 for the online registration,” Madhe told The Indian Express.
In a bid to assist the women, Madhe’s Elgar Kashtkari Sanghatna has been organising camps across Nashik’s tribal villages. Having filled 3,000 physical forms so far, their organisation is now forwarding them to anganwadis for online submissions. “But the online process is very slow. Besides, the government has been coming up with new list of requirements every other day, which is creating further confusion.”
Even women in Mumbai are not spared with instances of charging Rs 100 for filling form emerging from Deonar. On Monday, the Mumbai police lodged a case after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) filed a complaint for misleading citizens and extorting money under the scheme.
The complaint was registered after senior officials in the M/East ward learnt that an unidentified person had been charging a fee of Rs 100 for completing the application process from eligible women in Deonar.
The civic body has instructed citizens to inform the BMC if anyone charges them for the application process. To further aid women, the BMC has also made the provision of an online application facility at Civic Facility Centers (CFCs) of the respective wards.
When asked about the difficulties faced by the women to get registered, the official said that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued clear directions about making the process easier. “There is huge rush to get registered for this. So some may have faced some difficulties. But now since the online system is available, local officials have been given instructions. All the problems will be solved at the earliest,” he said.
Many of the women beneficiaries had already availed benefits of other government schemes, which made them ineligible for the Rs 1,500 monthly allowance under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, said Tatkare adding that their accounts would be scrutinised over the next two months. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty) 
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
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