Socio-economic conditions in Kherda village

Notes

• Marathwada region in Maharashtra faces chronic agrarian distress due to erratic monsoons, lack of perennial rivers, and climate uncertainty.
• Farmer suicides remain a critical issue in the region, with 1,131 recorded in 2025 and 465 between January and June 2026 across eight districts.
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes for women, such as the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, aim to provide financial support to vulnerable groups but face challenges regarding sustainability and exclusion criteria.
• Exclusion criteria for welfare schemes include government employees, taxpayers, and existing beneficiaries of other welfare programs, leading to the removal of approximately 92 lakh beneficiaries from the scheme.
• Farm widows face intersectional challenges, including loss of land rights, social stigma, and economic dependence, often exacerbated by patriarchal control over financial resources.
• Older, established welfare schemes like the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana and the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme are perceived as more stable compared to newer, election-linked initiatives.
• The rise in female voter turnout (from 59.26% in 2019 to 65.21% in 2024) indicates a significant shift in political participation, partly attributed to targeted welfare schemes.
• Dryland farming in the region is characterized by a paradox where crop failures lead to price volatility, further destabilizing household incomes.

Part of a longer story

This is day 3 of 3 in Implementation and scrutiny of Maharashtra's Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which has been running since 15 July 2026. Reading it whole is usually worth more than reading today alone — the exam asks how something developed.

• Maharashtra's Ladki Bahin scheme scrutiny Before
• The whole story 3 entries