Brothers turned sisters for votes: Oppn on Maharashtra's Ladki Bahin Yojana

Maharashtra’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, a flagship welfare scheme designed to support women from low-income families, is embroiled in a massive scandal, exposing seemingly severe irregularities and alleged political manipulation.

The scheme, launched ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections by the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, promised Rs 1,500 monthly to eligible women aged between 21 and 65 from families earning less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually. It quickly gained political significance, credited with helping the ruling coalition win a decisive mandate.

However, an audit conducted by the women and child development department revealed extensive misuse of funds and beneficiary misrepresentation.

Shockingly, over 14,000 men fraudulently received payments totaling Rs 21.44 crore by manipulating the online registration system to pose as female beneficiaries. This glaring anomaly came to light nearly 10 months after the scheme’s roll-out, prompting calls for accountability and rigorous investigation.

The scale of the scam is far more extensive, with the government report indicating that around Rs 1,640 crore was lost due to enrolment of ineligible beneficiaries during the first year.

Key irregularities include the enrolment of approximately 7.97 lakh women as third beneficiaries within families, despite the scheme limiting benefits to two women per household — this abuse alone accounted for a loss of Rs 1,196 crore.

बोगस लाभार्थ्यांनी सरकारच्या लाडकी बहिण योजनेचा लाभ घेत १६४ कोटी रुपयांचा घोटाळा केल्याची बातमी ऐन दिवाळीत बाहेर येतेय. सरकारी यंत्रणेच्या वापराशिवाय आणि राजकीय वरदहस्त असल्याशिवाय हे घडणं शक्य तरी आहे का?

योजनांच्या नावांआड जनतेच्या पैश्यांवर डल्ला मारायचा आणि सरकारी तिजोरी… pic.twitter.com/ucsoBRz3cY

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 22, 2025

Supriya Sule alleges Rs 4,800 Cr scam in Ladki Bahin Yojana, seeks white paper, probe

Furthermore, approximately 2.87 lakh women over the age of 65 were found receiving benefits, leading to an estimated Rs 431.70 crore loss. The scrutiny also flagged around 1.62 lakh women from households owning four-wheelers — disqualified as per scheme criteria — as beneficiaries.

The issue escalated with the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) accusing the government of deliberately using the scheme as a vote bank manipulator. NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto alleged that 12,431 men were disbursed the monthly stipend totaling Rs 24.24 crore, terming this a “well-orchestrated trick” to attract votes before the elections.

He demanded a SIT (Special Investigation Team) probe and called on chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to take responsibility for the poor implementation.

The controversy also drew comments from Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who alleged a "Rs 164 crore scam" with misuse of government machinery and political patronage. Thackeray linked similar fraud concerns to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, warning the rulers that the people are vigilantly watching their actions.

The government’s corrective steps include suspending payments to over 26 lakh ineligible beneficiaries beginning June, ongoing district-level verification of beneficiaries, and efforts to recover funds from dishonest recipients.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar vowed strict action against fraudulent male beneficiaries, while women and child development minister Aditi Tatkare pledged to take appropriate decisions to weed out bogus claims and ensure assistance reaches genuinely deserving women.

With PTI inputs

Ajit Pawar admits Ladki Bahin payout mistakes; Sena (UBT) seeks resignation