Mahila Kisan Yojana (Maharashtra)

What is Mahila Kisan Yojana?

Mahila Kisan Yojana is a Maharashtra state scheme run by the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department through LIDCOM, the Leather Industries Development Corporation of Maharashtra, formally named Sant Rohidas Charmodyog & Charmakar Vikas Mahamandal, set up on 1 May 1974. The scheme is aimed squarely at women of the Charmakar community who already hold agricultural land, and it puts working capital behind that land instead of leaving the household dependent on informal lenders.

According to the LIDCOM scheme page, Mahila Kisan Yojana sanctions a project of Rs 50,000 per beneficiary. Of that, Rs 10,000 is a subsidy that the woman never repays, and the remaining Rs 40,000 is a loan carrying 5% interest per annum. The loan component is financed by the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), New Delhi, so the scheme is a state-delivered, centrally-refinanced package rather than a pure state grant.

Readers searching in Marathi will find the scheme listed as Mahila Kisan Yojana (महिला किसान योजना) on LIDCOM's own site and on the national myScheme portal. It sits alongside LIDCOM's other Charmakar-community programmes such as the 50% Subsidy Scheme (maximum Rs 50,000), the Margin Money loan scheme for projects of Rs 50,001 to Rs 5,00,000, and the Gattai Stall scheme for roadside cobblers.

What the scheme is designed to do

• Put a funded agricultural or agriculture-allied project in the hands of a Charmakar woman whose name is already on the land record.
• Replace private moneylending, which typically costs many times the scheme's 5% annual rate.
• Move ownership of the productive asset to the woman rather than the household head.

Who is eligible for Mahila Kisan Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are a woman belonging to the Charmakar community: Dhor, Chambhar, Holar, Mochi and allied castes, and hold a caste certificate from a competent authority.
• You are between 18 and 50 years of age.
• You are a permanent resident of Maharashtra.
• Your name appears on the 7/12 extract of the agricultural land the project relates to.
• Your annual family income is within Rs 3,00,000, the ceiling LIDCOM records for this scheme for both rural and urban applicants.
• You hold a valid income certificate from an authorised government officer.
• You have practical knowledge of the activity you are seeking the loan for. LIDCOM asks for this explicitly, because the loan is tied to a project.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not from the Charmakar community. Other Scheduled Caste groups are served by different Maharashtra corporations, not by LIDCOM.
• The land is not in your own name. A woman whose husband or father holds the 7/12 is not eligible in her own right under this scheme.
• You are below 18 or above 50 years old on the date of application.
• You are not a permanent resident of Maharashtra.
• Your family income exceeds the Rs 3,00,000 ceiling.
• You are a man. Mahila Kisan Yojana is a women-only scheme; male applicants of the same community should look at LIDCOM's 50% Subsidy Scheme or the Margin Money scheme instead.

What documents are required for Mahila Kisan Yojana?

Carry originals as well as photocopies. District LIDCOM offices verify the caste and land documents against the originals before the file moves forward.

How to apply for Mahila Kisan Yojana

Mahila Kisan Yojana is an offline scheme. There is no online form, no MahaDBT listing and no app — the entire route runs through LIDCOM's district office.

1. Locate your district LIDCOM office. Every district in Maharashtra has one. The head office is at Bombay Life Building, 5th Floor, 45 Veer Nariman Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001, reachable on (022) 22044186 and (022) 22047157, and can tell you where your district office sits.
2. Collect the prescribed application form from that office. LIDCOM issues the form free of cost; nothing is payable to get it.
3. Assemble the documents listed above: caste certificate, income certificate, 7/12 extract in your own name, age proof, residence proof, bank passbook and the project quotation.
4. Fill the form and attach the documents, including a short description of the agricultural activity the Rs 50,000 will be used for.
5. Submit the completed form at the district LIDCOM office during office hours and take an acknowledgement with a date and inward number on it. Keep this, it is the only reference number you will have.
6. Wait for district-level scrutiny. LIDCOM verifies caste, income and land records, and may call you for a short interview about the project.
7. On sanction, complete the bank formalities. The Rs 40,000 loan portion is disbursed through the banking channel at 5% annual interest, and the Rs 10,000 subsidy is adjusted into the same project account.

How to check the status of a Mahila Kisan Yojana application

Because the scheme is fully offline, status is tracked in person rather than on a portal:

1. Take your dated acknowledgement to the district LIDCOM office and ask for the position of your file by its inward number.
2. If the district office cannot say, call the LIDCOM head office on (022) 45240417, (022) 22044186 or (022) 22047157 with the same inward number and your district name.
3. If a decision is delayed, escalate in writing to the Managing Director, LIDCOM, at the Mumbai head office address.

Why Mahila Kisan Yojana applications get rejected

• Land not in the applicant's own name. The 7/12 extract naming a husband or father is the single most frequent reason a file fails.
• Caste certificate outside the Charmakar group, or a self-declaration instead of a certificate from the competent authority.
• Income certificate above the ceiling, or an expired certificate.
• Age outside 18–50 on the date of application.
• No credible project. The scheme funds an agriculture-linked activity, so a file with no quotation or no stated use of funds is returned.
• Incomplete bank details, which stall disbursement even after sanction.

Most of these are fixable. A rejected file can be resubmitted at the same district office once the missing certificate or corrected land record is in hand.

Where to raise a grievance

• LIDCOM head office: Bombay Life Building, 5th Floor, 45 Veer Nariman Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001.
• Phone: (022) 45240417, (022) 22044186, (022) 22047157.
• Parent department: Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, at sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in.

Mahila Kisan Yojana forms are free, and no LIDCOM officer is authorised to charge for processing an application.