Over 14,000 men received payout under Ladki Bahin scheme

The latest scrutiny report estimates that the state has lost ₹1,640 crore in the last 12 months by paying hundreds of thousands of ineligible beneficiaries.

MUMBAI: More than 14,000 men snuck into the sisterhood that receives a monthly payout of ₹1,500 under the state’s flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana. These 14,298 men, who fraudulently received the direct cash benefit for 10 months, caused a loss of ₹21.44 crore to the state exchequer.

Thane, India - August 06, 2024: A board of Chief Minister's majhi bahin ladki yojana scheme has been put up in Thane Municipal Corporation for the information of women. A woman is seen reading the rules of this scheme , in Thane, India, on Tuesday, August 06, 2024. (Praful Gangurde /Hindustan Times)

The Ladki Bahin Yojana was a game-changer for the Mahayuti coalition, helping them sweep to power in last year’s assembly election. Its beneficiaries are meant to be exclusively women from low-income groups, aged between 21 and 65. The money is meant to improve their health, nutrition, and general well-being.

Announced in June last year, the scheme has been controversial for the unprecedented burden it has placed on the state’s finances. It has also been riddled with ineligible beneficiaries detected during the monthly scrutiny exercise. In its latest revision, the state women and child development department found that 14,298 men had enrolled by misrepresenting their identity. Payments to their accounts have been stopped.

The state government currently spends ₹3,700 crore to pay ₹1,500 per month to 24.1 million beneficiaries under the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

The latest scrutiny report estimates that the state has lost ₹1,640 crore in the last 12 months by paying hundreds of thousands of ineligible beneficiaries. In February, the women and child development department, which implements the scheme, had said that around 500,000 beneficiaries had been dropped. These include around 162,000 women whose families owned four-wheelers, and around 287,000 beneficiaries who were over 65 years of age (they are eligible for benefits under a different scheme). The latter, who were receiving the benefit for the last 10 months, had caused a loss of ₹431.7 crore to the state exchequer.

Also receiving the monthly payout were women who were the third member of a family to benefit under the Ladki Bahin scheme. They had fraudulently enrolled even though only two women from a family are entitled to sign up. The department found around 797,000 such cases, entailing an expense of ₹1,196 crore in the last year.

While admitting that the number of ineligible beneficiaries was shocking, officials from the women and child development department said the online registration process helped fraudulent beneficiaries to sign up. “Physical scrutiny of applications at the ground level is necessary,” said one official. “We are also going to cross-check the income eligibility of beneficiaries by enlisting the help of the income tax department as only women with a family income of up to ₹2.5 lakh a year are eligible under the Ladki Bahin scheme.”

The department, during the scrutiny process, had sought information from various other departments. As per the scrutiny report, 2.634 million ineligible beneficiaries had taken advantage of the Ladki Bahin scheme, and their payments were stopped. Minister for women and child development Aditi Tatkare said the information will be verified at the ground level by district collectors across the state.

“As of now, benefits to 26.34 lakh (2.634 million) ineligible beneficiaries have been stopped and about 2.25 crore (22.5 million) beneficiaries are eligible. The nature of action against those who mislead the government to take benefits will be decided after discussions with the chief minister and two deputy chief ministers,” Tatkare said.

Commenting on reports that over 14,000 men had benefitted under the Ladki Bahin scheme, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said, “The Ladki Bahin scheme is for needy women from lower income groups, not for men. The state government will recover the money from men who received the money under the scheme. If they don’t cooperate, we will take strict action.”