Ladki Bahin Yojana Scam: Over 9,500 Working Women, Retired Staff and Pensioners Illegally Availed Benefits; Rs 34 Crore Disbursed

After over 14,000 male candidates availed themselves of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, some 9,523 working women also managed to avail themselves of funds under the scheme. It has also come to light that retired staffers of the Maharashtra state government received 1,500 per month under the scheme while simultaneously getting a pension.

 The state government relied on ration cards to identify the male beneficiaries under the scheme. Now, while scrutinising government employees, the authorities used the Sevaarth system data. For the past eight to ten months, 1,232 retired female employees have been receiving payments under the scheme into their bank accounts. A total of Rs 1.85 crore has been deposited into their accounts. When the verification of on-duty female employees was done, it was found that 8,294 of them were availing the benefits of the scheme.

How Men Looted A Women’s Scheme

Every month, a total of 1.24 crore (1,24,41,000) was being deposited into their bank accounts. They were availing the benefit for the past eight to ten months and a total of 12 crore was deposited. Notably, all of these staffers are Class III or Class IV employees. Lokmat Times on May 30, 2025, had published a report stating that 2,652 female State government employees benefited from the funds under the Ladki Bahin Scheme. Over a period of nine months, these employees received a total of Rs 3.58 crore, with each receiving 13,500 in total.

Cabinet to Discuss Issue

In May, it was revealed that 2,652 female government employees had gulped the funds from the scheme. However, no action was taken against these employees, and no funds were recovered. The State Cabinet is expected to discuss the irregularities in the scheme in its meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

Dual Benefit From Pension Scheme

Authorities have also verified that 13,461 women above 65-year who are not government employees and are receiving benefits under the Indira Gandhi Pension Scheme—also received money under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. With 2 crore per month, they collectively received 20 crore over a span of 10 months.