Chandigarh, Nov. 2 -- Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday said that about 5.22 lakh women have formally become beneficiaries of monthly financial assistance of Rs.2,100 under the Lado Lakshmi Yojana, a social security scheme started by the BJP government. The CM also clarified that of 5,22,162 women verified as eligible and sent congratulatory SMS messages (as of October 31 midnight), 3,46,983 had completed the Aadhaar KYC process, while 1,75,179 were pending verification. A total of 6,97,697 women including 46,168 unmarried have applied for the monthly stipend as of October 31 midnight, he said. As per approved criteria, married and unmarried women who are 23 and above as on September 25, 2025 and whose family's annual income is less than Rs.1 lakh will be eligible for the financial assistance in the first phase of implementation. Also, only those women or their husbands (in the case of them being married in Haryana from another state) who are residents of Haryana, residing in the state for the last 15 years or more at the time of application are eligible for the scheme. In its 2024 assembly poll manifesto, the BJP had promised to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs.2,100 to every woman in the state. However, keeping in view the huge financial implication involved in dispensing the monthly financial assistance, the BJP after coming to power for a third successive term, worked out an exclusion-criteria to bring down the number of eligible beneficiaries. The scheme, named after Bhartiya Jana Sangh co-founder, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, would have entailed an annual expenditure of about Rs.23,940 crores if about 95 lakh women in the 18-100 age group were given the benefit of Rs.2,100 monthly financial assistance. If the state government had decided to provide Rs.2,100 every month to about 77 lakh women in the 18-60 age group considering that many would become beneficiaries of old age social security pension after 60, then the government would have burdened itself with an annual financial liability of Rs.19,000 crore. It would have cost the state exchequer about Rs.17,640 crore annually if only 70 lakh women who are below the poverty line were made beneficiaries, officials said. Saini had announced a provision of Rs.5,000 crore for implementing the scheme in the 2024-25 budget estimates. Officials said in the first phase about 20 lakh women are expected to receive the benefit of the scheme. "I am electronically transferring an amount of Rs.2,100 each to 5,22,162 eligible women," he said. Every beneficiary, as per a September 15 notification, will be required to undergo liveness detection every month by completing face authentication through the Lado Lakshmi App to ensure uninterrupted disbursal of financial assistance. The citizen resources information department (CRID) shall send a text message to eligible beneficiaries every month to remind them about the liveness certificate (blink to click feature). Women beneficiaries would be required to furnish exhaustive personal and family information including details of income, bank accounts, electricity connection, ownership of vehicles, and residence certificate among others. The government came up with an exclusion criteria which restricted women availing nine social security schemes -Old Age Samman Allowance, Financial Assistance to Widows and Destitute Women, Haryana Divyang Pension, Ladli Social Security Allowance, Financial Assistance to Kashmiri Migrants Families, Allowance to Dwarfs, Financial Assistance to Women and Girls Acid Attack Victims, Financial Assistance to Widower and Unmarried Persons Scheme 2023, and Haryana Gaurav Samman Scheme for the Padma Awardees - from getting benefits of this scheme. Once an unmarried beneficiary completes 45 years of age, she will automatically become eligible for financial assistance scheme for widows and destitute women. Similarly, upon attaining the age of 60 years, a woman beneficiary will automatically qualify for the old age samman allowance pension scheme. However, applicants suffering from stage 3 and 4 cancer, any of the 54 listed rare diseases as well as haemophilia, thalassemia, and sickle cell disease, who are already receiving pension benefits, will be entitled to the benefits of the Lado Lakshmi Yojana....