In Maharashtra, a fraud has been reported in the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, wherein over 14,000 people fraudulently received financial benefits originally intended for poor women in the state.
Reports say that 14, 298 men employed fraudulent means to receive direct cash benefit for 10 months caused a loss of Rs 21.44 crore to the state exchequer.
Taking to X on Saturday (26th July), Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare informed that data from the Information Technology Department showed that approximately 26.34 lakh beneficiaries who were ineligible have been receiving benefits under the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
“Under the Chief Minister’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Department of Women and Child Development had sought information from all government departments to verify the eligibility of all applications. Accordingly, the Information and Technology Department reported that approximately 26.34 lakh beneficiaries, despite being ineligible, were availing benefits of the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
मुख्यमंत्री माझी लाडकी बहीण योजनेअंतर्गत पात्र ठरलेल्या सर्व अर्जांची ओळख पटवण्यासाठी महिला व बालविकास विभागाने शासनाच्या सर्व विभागांकडून माहिती मागवली होती. यानुसार माहिती व तंत्रज्ञान विभागाने सुमारे २६.३४ लाख लाभार्थी अपात्र असताना देखील लाडकी बहीण योजनेचा लाभ घेत असल्याची…
— Aditi S Tatkare (@iAditiTatkare) July 26, 2025
“It has been found that some beneficiaries were availing benefits of multiple schemes, some families had more than two beneficiaries, and in some cases, men had applied for the scheme. Based on this information, starting from June 2025, the benefits for these 26.34 lakh applicants have been temporarily suspended. Additionally, approximately 2.25 crore eligible beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin Scheme have been disbursed the honorarium for the month of June 2025,” she added.
“The information of the 26.34 lakh beneficiaries whose benefits have been temporarily suspended will be verified by the respective District Collectors, and the benefits for those found eligible will be resumed by the government,” the minister’s post reads.
The minister further stated that suitable decision in this matter will be taken after discussions with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Notably, even as the scheme permits only two women per household to enroll, women who were the third member of their family to sign up for the Ladki Bahin scheme also received the monthly payout. Over the course of the previous year, the department discovered almost 7.97 lakh of these bogus cases, costing Rs 1,196 crore.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the fraudsters will face strict action and the government will recover the money from the 14,298 men who allegedly siphoned funds meant for needy women.