Ladki Bahin Yojana Scam: A ₹164.52 crore scam has been uncovered in Maharashtra’s Chief Minister’s Ladki Bahin Yojana. An RTI investigation revealed that 12,431 men and 77,980 ineligible women received false benefits under the scheme. The government has initiated e-KYC verification.
Major irregularities have been uncovered in the Maharashtra government’s ambitious scheme, the “Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.” 12,431 men have also been found to have misappropriated funds under this scheme, which was launched solely to help women. Under this scheme, eligible women are provided with financial assistance of ₹1,500 per month.
The Indian Express newspaper, citing government data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI), reported that the Women and Child Development Department (WCD) confirmed that these men were found to have received benefits during verification. Following the investigation, they were removed from the list of beneficiaries. Additionally, 77,980 women who had received benefits incorrectly were found to be ineligible.
The government suffered a loss of ₹164 crore.
According to the RTI response, these men were paid ₹1,500 per month for 13 months, while ineligible women received this amount for 12 months. In this way, the government released a total amount of more than Rs 164.52 crore into wrong accounts, out of which about Rs 24.24 crore was given to men and Rs 140.28 crore was given to women.
This scheme was launched in June 2024, about four months before the Maharashtra Assembly elections. In August 2024, the Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government announced a budget of ₹199.81 crore for its publicity. At that time, the opposition had labeled the scheme a “pre-election populist measure.”
2.41 lakh women are benefiting from the Ladki Behen Yojana.
Currently, approximately 24.1 million women are benefiting from this scheme, imposing a monthly financial burden of approximately ₹3,700 crore on the government. A separate RTI response from the Department of Women and Child Development stated that approximately 2,400 government employees, including several men, also improperly benefited from the scheme. These include employees from the Agriculture, Social Welfare, Tribal Development, Ayurveda Directorates, and Zila Parishads. However, no recovery action has been taken or any punitive action taken against any of the wrongful payments.
Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare posted on X in August 2025 that a preliminary investigation had found approximately 2.6 million beneficiaries ineligible. The department has sent this data to all districts for physical verification. Tatkare wrote that “appropriate action will be taken against those found ineligible after verification, under the guidance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar.”
According to government sources, the scam revealed in the RTI is “just the beginning.” So far, disbursements to 26.34 lakh suspicious accounts have been suspended from June-July 2025. An official said, “We have not yet fully assessed the total amount transferred to ineligible accounts. This figure may increase as verification progresses.”
How did this discrepancy occur?
Regarding the distribution of benefits in the name of men, officials admitted that adequate scrutiny procedures were not in place when implementing the scheme. In the RTI response, the department stated that payments to male beneficiaries were made from July 2024 to July 2025, and that payments to them have been stopped after July 2025. However, no decision has been made yet on the recovery of any funds.
The department also clarified that 77,980 women were disqualified because they either provided incorrect information or their family income exceeded ₹2.5 lakh. In several cases, two or more members of the same family were found to be receiving benefits from the scheme.
To prevent such irregularities, the government has now launched a statewide e-KYC verification campaign, making it mandatory for all existing and new beneficiaries. This revelation has raised serious questions about the transparency and credibility of the Maharashtra government’s schemes. It remains to be seen whether the government recovers the funds from the wrong beneficiaries and who will be held accountable for this massive irregularity.
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