Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mumbai: As the ambitious Mukhya Mantri Mazhi Ladki Yojana, cash benefit scheme for women, once again comes under cloud with 14,292 men pocketing from the scheme, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maha Yuti government on Sunday clarified that 26.34 lakh ineligible beneficiaries have been weeded out from the scheme.
According to women and child development minister Aditi Tatkare, 26.34 lakh beneficiaries, who are ineligible under the Ladki Bahin Scheme, have been temporarily suspended for the June instalment.
The Ladki Bahin Yojana was launched by the BJP-led dispensation ahead of the 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls.
Under the scheme, the government provides Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women in the age group of 21-60 years age bracket for overall progress of women, including economic independence, self-reliance, health and nutrition.
The scheme has helped the BJP-led alliance win the Assembly elections with a landslide majority.
The benefits taken by 14,298 men for nearly 10 months - from the scheme amounts to a whopping Rs 21.44 crore - which the government says would be recovered and offences would be registered.
However, as the reports emerged, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government saying that the scheme was launched with a political motive and it is on the verge of closure because it is deeply impacting the exchequer.
“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. Besides, approximately 2.25 crore eligible beneficiaries of the have been disbursed the honorarium for the month of June 2025,” said Tatkare, the daughter of Raigad MP and state NCP president Sunil Tatkare.
The Department of Women and Child Development had sought information from all government departments to verify the eligibility of all applications - following which the Information and Technology Department reported that approximately 26.34 lakh beneficiaries, despite being ineligible, became beneficiaries of the scheme,”
Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and state revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that stern action will be taken against men who took advantage of the scheme.