Maharashtra: Over 14,000 men received Ladki Bahin Yojana money

In Maharashtra, over 14,000 men fraudulently received financal benefits under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, a scheme explicitly meant for economically disadvantaged women. An audit conducted by the Women and Child Development Department (WCD) has uncovered that Rs 21.44 crore was disbursed to 14,298 men, who, by manipulating the online registration system, managed to register themselves as female beneficiaries. This misuse came to light nearly 10 months after the scheme's launch. 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 official. 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.

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

The scheme, which was launched last year, promises Rs 1,500 per month to women aged between 21 and 65 years whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually. Its rollout, timed just months before the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, became a key instrument of the Mahayuti coalition.The largest misuse stemmed from over 7.97 lakh women who enrolled as third members from the same family. The scheme, however, explicitly restricts benefits to a maximum of two women per household. This violation alone cost the exchequer Rs 1,196 crore.
In December 2024, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a comprehensive review of the scheme. In January this year,  By February, the names of 5 lakh ineligible beneficiaries had been removed from the system.