Hingoli: Several cases of the beneficiaries of the state government’s ambitious scheme, Ladki Bahin, taking the benefits by submitting bogus documents have come to the fore. Hence, the government has directed the women and child welfare department of each district to strictly check the documents of the beneficiaries.
The department in Hingoli district has initiated the checking drive, and the names of the ineligible beneficiaries are being removed from the scheme. In Hingoli district, there are 38,144 such suspected applicants. Now, the Anganwadi Sevikas are visiting home to home and checking the documents and the eligibility criteria of these beneficiaries. After the checking is completed, a detailed report in this regard will be sent to the senior level.
The then chief minister and the present deputy chief minister, Eknath Shinde, had started the Ladki Bahin scheme. Under the scheme, Rs 1,500 was deposited in the bank account of each woman beneficiary. However, it was found that several women had applied for the scheme by submitting bogus documents. Hence, the government has started a strict scrutiny of the documents. Similarly, it was also found that some men are taking the benefit of the scheme by applying in the name of women. Four men in Hingoli district submitted the applications to the district women and child welfare office and withdrew their names from the scheme.
In all, 3,24,427 women had applied for the Ladki Bahin scheme in Hingoli district, of which 1,79,220 applications were submitted through the mobile app, 1,45,207 through the web portal. In all, 31,434 applications were directly rejected after the preliminary scrutiny. In all, 2,92,963 beneficiaries are presently taking advantage of the scheme in Hingoli district.
In the preliminary findings, it is suspected that there are 38,144 beneficiaries who have submitted bogus documents. These included 26,641 beneficiaries, of whom are from each family, 4,032 applicants are below 21 years of age, and 7,451 are above 65 years of age. Anganwadi Sevikas are now collecting their information by visiting each house of these suspected applicants. The checking drive will take at least one month, and then a report will be sent to the state government, the sources said.
