Aditi Tatkare, Minister for Women and Child Development. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Maharashtra government has revealed that 26.34 lakh beneficiaries, who are ineligible under the Ladki Bahin Scheme, have been temporarily suspended for the June instalment.
“The benefits for 26.34 lakh applicants have been temporarily suspended starting from June 2025. The instalments for the month have been disbursed to 2.25 crore eligible beneficiaries,” said Minister for Women and Child Development Aditi Tatkare, adding the suspended beneficiaries’ eligibility will be verified by the respective District Collectors.
The Department of Women and Child Development had sought information from all government departments to verify the eligibility of all applications.
“The Information and Technology Department reported that approximately 26.34 lakh beneficiaries, despite being ineligible, became beneficiaries of the scheme,” said Aditi Tatkare, Minister for Women and Child Development, on X.
The Ladki Bahin scheme was launched in August 2024 ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election held in November 2024. The scheme was considered one of the reasons for the BJP-led Mahayuti victory in the election. However, after the elections, the government started the scrutiny of the beneficiaries availing the scheme. Since then, the government has regularly suspended ineligible beneficiaries.
State government will resume the scheme benefits for those found eligible after the verification, while action will be taken against fraudulent beneficiaries who have “misled the government” and availed benefits through “improper means”.
Ms. Tatkare pointed out that all the ineligible beneficiaries were availing benefits of multiple schemes, some families had more than two beneficiaries, or men applied for the scheme.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday expressed that stern action will be taken against men who took advantage of the scheme, saying the Ladki Bahin scheme is for poor women, and it makes no sense for men to be the beneficiaries. So, money will be recovered. Action will be taken on the non-cooperation. He was responding to reports of 14,000 men being the beneficiaries of the scheme.
Published – July 27, 2025 12:30 pm IST