In Mahayuti's poll-winning Ladki Bahin scheme, 14,000 of 26 lakh bogus beneficiaries found to be men
The state government has also suspended the June instalment to the accounts.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has admitted that the stipend given under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana has wrongfully been credited into the accounts of 26.34 lakh bogus beneficiaries. Among them, over 14,000 are men who have wrongfully benefited from the scheme, the women & child development department sources have confirmed to ThePrint.
On Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also admitted the mistake.
'According to the department, 26 lakh such accounts have been found that do not fit the bill of the Ladki Bahin scheme. These accounts have not been rejected yet, but instalments are suspended now. After another scrutiny, if we see what we found is true, we will suspend the accounts,' Fadnavis told reporters in Wardha.
Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare released a statement on the bogus accounts.
'Some of the beneficiaries are availing of multiple government schemes. In other cases, more than two members of the same family are receiving benefits [under the Ladki Bahin scheme]. Shockingly, there are also instances where male applicants received funds under the scheme,' said Tatkare, adding that the June 2025 instalment was suspended for 26.34 lakh bank accounts based on the information.
According to the state government, despite the suspensions, 2.5 crore eligible women had received the monthly stipend, Rs 1,500, for June.
Launched last year ahead of Raksha Bandhan, Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana is a Rs 1,500 monthly stipend, promoted as a 'gift from a brother to the sisters in the state'.
After the launch, millions of lower-income women across Maharashtra stood in long queues to apply for direct benefit transfer under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The scheme eventually helped the Mahayuti to win a historic mandate in the assembly elections last November.
However, after the election, the Mahayuti government, a coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, has tightened scrutiny of the beneficiaries of the scheme after finding out that many women, who do not meet the eligibility criteria, are on the list.
The scheme's criteria are clear. Women whose family income is over Rs 2.5 lakh—or if anyone in their family is paying income tax—as well as family members of those working with the government, or drawing a pension after their retirement, are not eligible.
Just ahead of the assembly elections, the number of beneficiaries was 2.63 crore.
However, during the ongoing scrutiny, the number dropped to 2.52 crore by February and 2.47 crore by May this year. The scrutiny has been finding those who own four-wheelers, hold government jobs, or are beneficiaries of other schemes have been receiving money under the Ladki Bahin scheme.
Now, the government has fixed the number of ineligible people at 26.34 lakh and revealed that men also feature in the list.
Every month, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana costs the exchequer Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, said the government sources.
On Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar vowed action against the bogus beneficiaries. 'Ladki Bahin scheme was launched to help poor women. There is no reason why men should be its beneficiaries. We will recover the money given out to them. If they do not cooperate, there will be further action,' Pawar told reporters.
'Some women employed with the government also became beneficiaries, but we have removed their names. As we continue to review the working of the scheme, we will keep removing such names,' he added.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: Rakhi gift before polls, now strain on coffers, how Mahayuti's Ladki Bahin scheme has undergone a squeeze
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