MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has initiated the process of recovering the monthly Rs 1,500 paid to 14,298 men who fraudulently received benefits under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
During investigations and verification of documents, it was found that these men had fraudulently registered themselves as women to avail of the benefits under the scheme for several months.
State government data showed that these fraudulent beneficiaries received payments for nearly 10 months, with the total amount disbursed estimated at Rs 21.44 crore.
When the Ladki Bahin scheme was launched ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections in May 2024, the government allowed self-certification during enrolment as many applicants did not have sufficient time to submit supporting documents, with women seen as a key voting bloc.
Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister and NCP MLA Aditi Tatkare said the government had already initiated the process of recovering the money from the 14,298 men who misused the scheme by falsely representing themselves as women.
She said the scheme was launched to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,500 to poor and needy women and that the benefit would continue for eligible beneficiaries.
"The irregularities were detected during a review of beneficiary records carried out by the Department of Information and Technology. The exercise was part of a verification process launched after the scheme came into operation. We found some of the applicants had submitted incorrect details and documents while enrolling. The review brought to light cases where men had been included in a scheme reserved for women beneficiaries," Tatkare said.
Meanwhile, the CAG report also revealed that more than 92 lakh women have been removed from the Ladki Bahin scheme after failing the e-KYC process and for other reasons, reducing the number of beneficiaries from an initial 2.4 crore by approximately 38%.
According to the CAG, 50 lakh to 55 lakh women failed to complete the e-KYC process within the stipulated timeframe.
The annual family income of around 12 lakh women exceeded the scheme's prescribed limit, while more than 4.5 lakh women were above the maximum age limit of 65 years.
Another five lakh women were removed from the scheme because they were already receiving benefits under the Namo Shetkari Yojana.
