Ladki Bahin Yojana eligibility depends on a few clear rules: you must be a woman living in Maharashtra, aged 21 to 65, with family income up to Rs 2.5 lakh a year, and your family must not fall into any of the excluded groups. We are an independent explainer with no link to the government, so any real application, sign-in or correction must happen on the official portal or with your anganwadi's help.
Use the checker on this page for a quick first look, then read the full eligibility criteria below. For payment news, check the status box above; we update it whenever a new installment is confirmed. New registrations are closed right now, so this page mainly helps women understand why they are, or are not, getting the Rs 1,500 monthly benefit.
How the eligibility checker on this page works
The checker asks ten short yes or no questions: whether you live in Maharashtra, whether you are between 21 and 65, whether family income is up to Rs 2.5 lakh, whether anyone in the family pays income tax, whether anyone is a government employee or pensioner, whether any relative owns a car or other four-wheeler (tractors are ignored), whether a relative sits or once sat in Parliament or the state Assembly, whether anyone holds a post on a government board or corporation, your marital category, and whether you already get Rs 1,500 or more a month from another scheme.
It runs fully inside your own browser. Nothing you tick is saved, stored or sent anywhere, and it never asks for your Aadhaar, mobile number or bank details. The answer it shows is only a guide based on the published rules. The state department for Women and Child Development (WCD) looks at each case with its own records, and its decision is final. Looks eligible but no money is coming? Our payment not received guide lists the usual causes.
Ladki Bahin Yojana eligibility criteria in full
A woman must meet all of these conditions together:
- Residence: she must be a resident of Maharashtra.
- Gender: the scheme is only for women. During verification, thousands of men who had been drawing money were removed.
- Age: between 21 and 65 years.
- Income: total family income must not be more than Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
- Marital category: she may be married, a widow, a divorcee, a deserted wife (parityakta) or a woman with no support (niradhar). One unmarried woman from the household can also qualify.
- Bank account: she needs her own account, seeded with her Aadhaar number and active for DBT. DBT means Direct Benefit Transfer, where the government sends money straight to your bank account.
These are the main ladki bahin yojana terms and conditions. Searches for ladki bahini yojana criteria or eligibility for ladki bahin yojana point to exactly this list. If any one of them is not met, the application is rejected or the payments stop after a check.
Ladki Bahin Yojana age limit: 21 to 65, or 21 to 60?
Most current sources, including recent national news reports, give the ladki bahin yojana age limit as 21 to 65 years. One news report from the e-KYC period still mentions 21 to 60. Reports differ, so if your age is between 60 and 65, please confirm on the official portal or at your anganwadi before you assume anything.
What is clear is that age is checked. In the verification drive, about 1.8 lakh women were removed for being over the age of 65. A woman becomes eligible only once she turns 21. People also search for the ladki bahini yojana age limit or the ladki bahin yojana age limit in Marathi; it is the same rule, and our Marathi page explains it in Marathi.
Who is not eligible: the exclusion list
Even if a woman meets the basic criteria, she is excluded if any of these apply to her family:
- Family income is above Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
- Any family member pays income tax.
- Any family member is a regular or permanent employee of the central government, state government, a local body, a PSU or a board, or draws a government pension. A relative who works through an outsourcing agency, on contract or as a volunteer does not disqualify the family, provided income stays within Rs 2.5 lakh.
- She already gets Rs 1,500 or more a month from another government scheme.
- A relative is a sitting MP or MLA, or has been one in the past.
- A family member is chairman, vice-chairman, director or board member of a central or state government corporation, board or undertaking.
- Someone in the family owns a four-wheeler. Tractors are left out of this rule.
Women who already get money from another scheme
The scheme does not pay twice for the same need. If a woman already gets Rs 1,500 or more a month from another government scheme, she is not eligible. If she gets less than that, she receives only the difference.
For example, about 7.7 lakh women who get Rs 1,000 a month under Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi receive Rs 500 a month from Ladki Bahin, so that the total reaches Rs 1,500. The same drive also dropped about 3.6 lakh women who were receiving the state's Niradhar (destitute) pension. If your amount looks smaller than expected, this rule may be the reason.
Family cap: one married woman, one unmarried woman
The cap is two women per household: a single married beneficiary and a single unmarried one. This is not just a guideline. It was one of the two declarations every woman had to accept during e-KYC, short for electronic Know Your Customer, which checks identity through Aadhaar.
Verification weeded out about 2.5 lakh cases where more than two members of one family were drawing money. If you live in a joint family with several daughters-in-law, only one married woman can take the benefit. Families should agree on this among themselves, because the department's records will flag it anyway.
How eligibility is checked after you are enrolled
Being approved once does not mean you stay eligible forever. When the state's IT department checked the data, roughly 26 lakh names appeared not to qualify. Compulsory e-KYC followed. It pulls in the husband's or father's Aadhaar so the system can test household earnings and spot government jobs, and it has to be redone annually.
The biggest reasons for removal were e-KYC not done (about 62 lakh), income above Rs 2.5 lakh (about 16 lakh) and a relative in a government job (about 4.42 lakh). The state has said it will not ask removed women to return money they were already paid. To understand the e-KYC rules, see our e-KYC guide.
Who is eligible for Ladki Bahin Yojana: common family situations
Widow or divorced woman
She is eligible if the other rules are met. Where there is no husband or father whose Aadhaar can be used for e-KYC, she can show her district's WCD officer a death certificate or a divorce decree bearing the court's stamp.
Woman born in another state
She can qualify if she married a Maharashtra resident and uses her husband's documents as proof. Our documents page lists them.
Son works on contract for the government
The exclusion covers regular or permanent staff and pensioners only. A contract job does not, as long as total household income is within Rs 2.5 lakh.
Questions people ask
What is the age limit for Ladki Bahin Yojana?
Most current sources give 21 to 65 years. One older report says 21 to 60, so women aged between 60 and 65 should confirm on the official portal or at the anganwadi.
Can I apply now if I am eligible?
No. Registration is shut, and the department has confirmed there is no fresh website or form. Any link saying otherwise is fake. Our apply online page covers your options.
Does a tractor count as a four-wheeler?
No. Tractors are not counted. Only other four-wheelers owned by a family member make the family ineligible.
My husband is a contract worker in a government office. Am I eligible?
Yes, if family income is up to Rs 2.5 lakh. The rule targets permanent or regular staff of government, PSUs, boards and local bodies, plus government pensioners, not contract or outsourced workers.
Can two daughters-in-law in the same house both get the money?
No. A household can have only one married beneficiary, plus one unmarried one. Every woman confirmed this in a declaration during e-KYC.
Is the result of the checker on this page final?
No. It is only a guide and nothing you enter is saved or sent. The WCD department makes the final call on every case, based on its own records.
I get Rs 1,000 from another scheme. Will I get anything?
If you get less than Rs 1,500 from another government scheme, you get the difference. Namo Shetkari beneficiaries, for example, get Rs 500 a month under Ladki Bahin.
Sources we checked
- Cleartax: Ladki Bahin Yojana rules cleartax.in
- Business Today: 92 lakh removed after verification businesstoday.in
- Pudhari: e-KYC declarations pudhari.news
- Business Today: difference amount for other schemes businesstoday.in
- Deccan Herald: e-KYC made mandatory deccanherald.com
We read these sources for this guide. Rules can change after we check them, so confirm anything important on the official portal or at your local office.