Oppn alleges 'scam' in Ladki Bahin Yojana; NCP (SP) says 'brothers became sisters' for votes

Mumbai, Oct 22 (PTI) The Ladki Bahin Yojana for women from low income families was a well orchestrated plan to "trick" the people of Maharashtra to vote for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, the NCP (SP) claimed on Wednesday and sought an SIT probe into alleged irregularities in the scheme.

In a statement here, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto cited response to a Right to Information (RTI) query, and said 12,431 men were disbursed Rs 1,500 each a month for 13 months, with the total amount pegged at Rs 24.24 crore, under the scheme meant for women from families earning less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually.

He maintained the Mahayuti government tried to turn "brothers into sisters" just to garner votes in the November 2024 assembly polls, which were won decisively by the BJP-led bloc also consisting of the Shiv Sena and the NCP.

The Opposition party spokesperson termed the disbursal of stipend to men under a scheme targeted at poor women as "hilarious chicanery" and noted the government stands exposed over implementation of its flagship welfare programme.

Crasto pointed out that earlier the Mahayuti government itself had identified more than 26 lakh ineligible beneficiaries of the scheme which was launched months ahead of the assembly polls last year.

"All this goes to prove that this (Ladki Bahin) was a well orchestrated yojana to lure and trick the people of Maharashtra to vote for them (ruling alliance). The truth of this vote luring scheme is now coming out in the open," he charged.

Crasto demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis take full responsibility for poor execution of the scheme and set up an SIT to investigate alleged irregularities and explain the "wrongdoings" to people.

Joining the issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, whose party is an ally of NCP (SP), said there are reports of a "Rs 164 crore scam" in the Ladki Bahin scheme and added this cannot happen without the misuse of government machinery and political patronage.

"Swindling government money in the name of scheme is an old trick of the BJP and Shiv Sena. This is also happening in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation," Thackeray said in a post on X.

On the other hand, it was a dark Diwali for farmers, who are not getting adequate financial assistance from the government for crop losses and soil erosion due to recent heavy rains and floods in parts of Maharashtra, the former minister stated.

"Those who are in power must know that people are watching them," Thackeray cautioned.

Earlier this year, the Women and Child Development Department, which runs the scheme, had sought information from all government departments as part of an exercise to verify the identity of eligible applicants.

Accordingly, the Information and Technology Department submitted details that approximately 26.34 lakh ineligible beneficiaries were getting financial aid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said in July.

"Among these, some beneficiaries were availing benefits from more than one scheme, some families had more than two beneficiaries, and in some places, men had applied," she had said.

Based on this information, benefits of these 26.34 lakh applicants were temporarily suspended from June 2025. In addition, the honorarium for the month of June 2025 was distributed to approximately 2.25 crore eligible beneficiaries, the minister had said.

The details of the 26.34 lakh ineligible beneficiaries will be verified by district collectors concerned, and among them those found eligible for the monthly stipend will start getting the dole, she said.

Tatkare had promised that the government will take appropriate decisions regarding the bogus beneficiaries of the scheme. PTI MR PR RSY