Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Says Govt Cannot Hike Payments Under Ladki Bahin Scheme

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06-05-2025

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Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Says Govt Cannot Hike Payments Under Ladki Bahin Scheme
The Wire Staff
3 minutes ago
Launched in July 2024, the Ladki Bahan Yojana provides Rs. 1,500 per month to women whose annual family income doesn't go beyond Rs. 2.5 lakh.
Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Photos: Official X accounts.
New Delhi: Five months after winning the Maharashtra elections largely on the plank of schemes for underprivileged women like the Mukyamatri Maji Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Mahayuti government's social justice minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat has said that the state government can't hike the payments under the scheme to Rs. 2,100 from the existing Rs. 1,500 as promised ahead of the assembly polls due to 'financial burden'.
As per an Indian Express report, Shirsat said at a press conference in Mumbai on May 5, 'It is a fact that the payout under the Ladki Bahin scheme cannot be increased to Rs 2,100 due to the financial burden on the Finance Department. However, this does not mean that the scheme will be scrapped. It will continue, and the government will fulfil its promise.'
Since May 3, this is the second time the Shiv Sena leader from deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde's camp has openly complained about paucity of funds related to this scheme and pointed fingers at the finance ministry led by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar.
This past May 3, Shirsat had criticised the state finance department for diverting funds worth Rs. 400 crores approximately from his ministry which was meant for the scheme.
He had then told reporters, 'I was not even informed that around Rs 400 crore (410 crores) has been diverted from the Social Justice Department. I came to know about it from the media. If there is no need for the Social Justice Department, then it can very well be closed.'
Friction between Shinde and Pawar camps
Shirsat, who last month, had opposed the move to divert money from his department, had called it 'high-handedness by the finance department'. Without naming Pawar, he had told reporters that a 'Shakuni' (equivalent to a clever traitor) was involved in taking the decision to divert the funds from his ministry.
On May 6 too, the Shiv Sena leader trained guns at the state finance department to express dissatisfaction at lack of funds, 'I currently have outstanding dues of nearly Rs 3,000 crore. I had requested the chief minister about a month ago to consider the needs of my department empathetically and to ensure that the rightful funds are released as per the rules. I have also communicated this in writing and spoken to Ajit Dada as well.'
Reacting to Shirsat's comment at the press conference, senior NCP leader and state minister Hasan Mushrif said, 'Where will Ajit dada bring money from? The sky? He is not taking the money home, the money is going (that is being diverted) for the Ladki Bahin scheme. Calling names for a senior leader is not good.'
Even during the earlier Udhav Thackeray-led government, when the Shinde camp had rebelled against the party, 'Shinde and his Sena MLAs had claimed that they were frustrated due to Ajit Pawar not giving funds to their ministries,' pointed out the Economic Times.
Prior to Shirsat, yet another Shiv Sena minister Pratap Sarnaik had also spoken against Pawar-led finance ministry 'for only paying half the salaries of the state transport employees', the ET report underlined.
Launched in July 2024, the Ladki Bahan Yojana provides Rs. 1,500 per month to women whose annual family income doesn't go beyond Rs. 2.5 lakh. In the 2024 assembly elections, the Mayayuti alliance had promised to hike the monthly amount to Rs. 2,100 which was being widely looked at as a game changer in those polls.
However, in March 2025, when the Mahayuti government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devender Fadnavis announced its first budget, it stayed silent on the promise.
On asked, chief minister Fadnavis had then said that his government 'is working on delivering the increased payouts'. He had then said, 'Funds have been allocated based on previous trends. If we determine that an increase is feasible, we will fulfil our promise.'
On May 6, reacting to Shirsat's comment, the NCP leader Mushrif said that it has nothing to do with Shiv Sena but diversion of funds is happening all across departments because the scheme is taking a huge toll on the state's exchequer.
As per an August 2024 news report, the state government, which had begun receiving applications for the scheme from July 4 2024 onwards, had found 1.3 crore applicants from the 1.4 crore received to be eligible for the scheme.
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