Mumbai, May 30 – In a major revelation during the eligibility verification process, the Maharashtra Women and Child Development Department has uncovered that 2,289 state government women employees fraudulently availed benefits under the Mahayuti government's flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, despite being ineligible. The total amount misused is estimated at around Rs 3.58 crore.
Launched with great publicity ahead of last year’s Assembly elections, the Ladki Bahin scheme aims to provide Rs 1,500 per month to eligible poor women in the state. However, the verification of beneficiaries has revealed several irregularities, including ineligible government employees and even men receiving funds through fake accounts.
The department initiated a detailed scrutiny of beneficiary applications in recent months. As part of this process, data of around 2 lakh government employees was shared with the IT department, which then cross-verified it using UID information. This investigation revealed that 2,289 female government employees had registered for and received benefits under the scheme—despite the scheme's rules clearly stating that government employees are not eligible.
These employees reportedly received Rs 13,500 each between August 2024 and April 2025. It remains to be seen whether the state government will proceed with recovering the misappropriated Rs 3.58 crore from them.
Speaking on the matter, Women and Child Development Minister Aaditi Tatkare clarified via social media that the detection is not recent, and the distribution of further installments to these individuals had already been stopped. She wrote:
“Beneficiary verification is a standard and ongoing part of any scheme implementation. During the implementation of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, verification of around 2 lakh applicants revealed that 2,289 were ineligible government employees. No further benefits have been disbursed to these individuals since January–February this year.”
Minister Tatkare further emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring that only eligible women receive the scheme’s benefits, adding that the verification process will continue regularly.
In a broader move, installments have also been halted for 7.7 lakh women who were found to be receiving benefits under both the Ladki Bahin scheme and the Namo Shetkari scheme simultaneously—another violation of the scheme's guidelines.
However, Opposition Leader Ambadas Danve criticized the state government, saying:
“The state government declared the scheme and allowed everyone under it without scrutinizing the forms. The eligibility criteria were announced along with the scheme. So, I demand that the government recover the money from the salaries of the officers who approved the forms of these women.”
