Couple files 30 applications to get benefits under Ladki Bahin Yojana; arrested
Satara police arrested a couple for fraudulently filing 30 applications for benefits under the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
The Satara police on Wednesday arrested a husband-wife duo for fraudulently filing 30 applications to receive monetary benefits under the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The accused - Ganesh Sanjay Ghadge, 30, and Pratiksha Popat Jadhav, 22 - are residents of Nimsod village in Khatav tehsil, Satara district.
According to police officials, the deception took place between August 14 and 27. Ghadge, who has been unemployed since the past few days after working as a security guard at Laxmi Industries in Bhiwandi, hatched a plan to fulfil his financial needs. He submitted 30 applications for the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana using different Aadhar cards for each application but providing his wife’s bank account details for receiving the payout of ₹1,500 per person as announced by the Eknath Shinde-led government.
Following a complaint lodged by a Panvel-based woman, the Satara district administration formed a three-member committee to probe the matter. Based on the committee’s report on Tuesday, a police case was filed against the couple by late evening. They were arrested the next (Wednesday) morning and presented in a local court which remanded them to three days of police custody, officials said.
Investigations revealed that Ghadge initially used his wife’s Aadhar card details to submit her application. Later, he collected Aadhar cards from his relatives—Komal Sanjay Pisal, Sunanda Sanjay Pisal, and Mangal Sanjay Ghadge—to submit additional applications. He also acquired an Aadhar card from one Pooja Balaso Jadhav of Jadhawasti Gursale and submitted one more application using her details. Along with this, 25 random Aadhar card details were procured using internet search to file additional applications.
Police inspector G B Sonawane from Vaduj police station, said, “We have filed a case against the couple based on a complaint from the Bal Vikas Prakalp Adhikari, Khatav, for submitting false documents to avail benefits under the Ladki Bahin Yojana.”
Sangita Khabade, women and children welfare project officer who coordinated for the Ladki Bahin Yojana in Khatav tehsil, said, “Our investigation found that 30 applications had been submitted under the scheme. Four were submitted using the relatives’ names while the remaining 26 used random Aadhar card numbers.” Khabade said that a complaint was filed at Vaduj police station following inquiries at Pratiksha Jadhav’s residence.
According to Yashni Nagarajan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Zilla Parishad, Satara, multiple applications were submitted under Pratiksha Jadhav’s name on the new portal of the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
“The investigation so far suggests that the government has received 28 out of the 30 applications, all using identical documents, including Aadhar cards. Only ₹3,000 was deposited on August 29 into a single account at Mandeshi Women’s Cooperative Bank in the name of the accused Pratiksha Jadhav. No other amounts have been deposited into accounts listed under different Aadhar numbers,” said Nagarajan.
The three-member committee formed to oversee the investigation included Rohini Dhawle, district programme officer, Women and Child Development Department; Vijay Taware, district women and child development officer; and Nitin Talpe, lead bank manager, Bank of Maharashtra.
A case has been registered at Vaduj police station under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, with further investigations underway.
The Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, launched on August 18 by chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, offers ₹1,500 per month to women aged 21 to 60 years with an annual family income below ₹2.5 lakh. The state government projects that around 2.5 crore women will benefit from the scheme. While the government aims to empower women through this plan, opposition parties have criticised it as a ploy ahead of the upcoming assembly elections expected in October-November.