Top News

Ladli Scheme: 'Ladli Yojana' was started on January 1, 2008 with the aim of empowering daughters in Delhi and reducing gender inequality. The number of beneficiaries in the scheme has declined by about 50 percent in the last 15 years. According to data provided by the government, about 1.25 lakh girls benefited from the scheme in 2008-09, while in 2024-25 this number came down to only 53 thousand. This information has come to the fore in response to an RTI application. News agency PTI has released a report on this, which raises questions on the impact of the scheme.

13,52,564 girls registered till 2025

The Women and Child Development Department of the Delhi government, in response to the RTI application, said that since the launch of the scheme in 2008, 13,52,564 girls have registered till 2025. According to the information received from the department, while the number of beneficiaries was 1,26,965 in 2008-2009, the number of girls getting the benefit of this scheme in 2024-25 fell by 50 percent to just 53,001, which was the second lowest in the last five years. Earlier in 2019-2020, only 30,192 girls got the benefit of the scheme.

What came out in the response to the RTI application?

In this regard, despite several attempts, Mitali Namchoom, Director of Delhi Women and Child Development Department, could not be contacted for information. In response to the RTI application, the Women and Child Development Department said that the number of beneficiaries was 1,39,223 in 2009-2010, 1,05,737 in 2010-2011, 1,06,585 in 2011-2012, 96,800 in 2012-2013, 89,243 in 2013-2014, 82,669 in 2014-2015, 74,846 in 2015-2016 and 68,193 in 2016-2017.

Government figures show that 67,070 girls were beneficiaries in 2017-2018, 60,903 in 2018-2019, 30,192 in 2019-2020, 61,546 in 2020-2021, 62,749 in 2021-2022, 64,637 in 2022-2023 and 62,205 in 2023-2024.

Isn't girls dropping out of school the reason?

An official of the Women and Child Development Department, on the condition of anonymity, said that girls dropping out of school is also one of the reasons behind the decrease in the number of beneficiaries. He said that due to lack of awareness, girls often do not renew their registration under the scheme and in some cases, girls leave their studies midway, which makes the process more complicated.

Money remains deposited till the age of 18 years

Under this scheme of Delhi Government, at present, a total government assistance of Rs 35-36,000 is given to the girls in a phased manner, which remains deposited in the bank of the girls till the age of 18 years. The department said that when the daughter turns 18, the entire money deposited in the account can be withdrawn along with interest and a total of about 35 thousand rupees is deposited by the government. In this regard, an official had earlier told that till January, about 1.86 lakh beneficiaries did not claim the benefits under the Ladli scheme, while 1.66 lakh beneficiaries either did not renew their application or left the school.