Laadli Beti Scheme: Rs 900 Cr Committed To J&K Girls

Aditya Pandey

Ladli Beti scheme in Jammu & Kashmir was started in 2015 with a clear and measurable promise that it will contribute Rs. 1000 per month on behalf of every newborn girl from the economically weaker sections, built into a corpus over 21 years, and hand her roughly Rs. 6.5 lakh as a financial foundation, not just a good gesture. After a decade, the enrolment number looks impressive, but the disbursement data reveal a very complicated picture.

The headline numbers

In response to a question tabled by MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para in the Legislative Assembly on February 20, 2026. The Social Welfare Department disclosed that 1,41,085 beneficiaries were registered under Laadli Beti in 2023-24 with Rs. 213.75 crore disbursed. In 2024-25, the numbers rose to 1.76,126. However, disbursements fell very sharply to Rs. 150 crore. For 2025-26, cumulative sanctioned beneficiaries stand at 1,98,024 with Rs. 300 crore already released. The number of enrolments grew by roughly 25,000 beneficiaries between 2023-24 and 2024-25, but the amount which was actually disbursed dropped by over Rs. 63 crore. It means more girls enrolled and less money flowed.

The treasury bottleneck

The reply in the assembly offered a partial explanation, which should concern every citizen because out of Rs. 300 crore, which was reported as disbursed in 2025-26, bills amounting to Rs. 200 crore are still pending in the treasury for payment into the pool account maintained by J&K Bank for eventual disbursement to beneficiaries. In simple terms, two-thirds of the figure has not actually reached anyone yet. Sanctioning a beneficiary and crediting her account are two different things, and the data from the government has been merged.

The gap

In 2017, there were only 16,095 beneficiaries, and in 2024-25, it expanded to approximately 1.90 lakh girl children, which is a successful rise accompanied by nearly a forty-fold increase in financial commitment, from Rs. 24 crore to close to Rs. 900 crore cumulatively. But district-level figures for 2025-26 suggest uneven reach. Anantnag district leads with 4,308 beneficiaries under the Marriage Assistance Scheme during the current year, followed by Budgam (4,255) and Baramulla (3,855), while Srinagar, the capital of UT, records only 2,504. The Laadli Beti data shows a similar pattern. Remote and smaller districts lag, but the assembly reply provides no district-wise breakdown specifically for Laadli Beti enrolment in 2024-25, making a district-level audit impossible from publicly available official data alone.

Is the scheme meeting the goals?

The numbers are growing in terms of enrolment. But the evidence of actual financial delivery is still thin. The design of the scheme requires a 14-year recurring deposit followed by a 7-year cumulative term deposit, with a final payment at the age of 21. Since the scheme began in 2015, no beneficiary has matured yet to the payment stage, which means the ultimate proof of whether Rs. 6.5 lakh actually reached a girl at 21 remains unanswered. Meanwhile, the gap between sanctioned beneficiaries and actual deposits signals a systematic delay; if it is unaddressed, it will quietly hollow out the promise.

Two actionable suggestions

Firstly. The government should publish a clear reconciliation which is accessible, district-wise, and distinguishes the beneficiaries sanctioned from beneficiaries whose accounts have been credited. The current reporting conflicts both, ensuring where the scheme is stalling.

Secondly, with the first group of 2015 beneficiaries approaching Phase 2 of their deposits, the Social Welfare Department should proactively verify account continuity and alert families about the transition from recurring deposit to final deposit. In this situation, the procedure failures will be the cruellest form of implementation gap, which is a decade of enrolment that yields nothing at the finish line. Overall, Laadli Beti is a well-designed scheme, but the data says enrolment is still working.

The writer is a student of M.A. in New Media Communications at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Jammu.