New Delhi, July 13 -- The Maharashtra government has removed more than 92 lakh beneficiaries from the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' after a state-wide verification drive. Thus reducing the scheme's total beneficiary base by nearly 38%.

Government records show that the deletions are significantly higher than the roughly 80 lakh removals initially disclosed publicly so far. The name removal exercise has reduced the total number of beneficiaries from about 2.43 crore at its peak to over Rs.1.5 crore, The indian Express reported.

Officials have also estimated that beneficiaries who were later found ineligible had already received nearly Rs.14,000 crore before payments were stopped. On average, all such beneficiaries received assis...