Maharashtra's Ladki Bahin payout puzzle: Rs 9,605 crore went to ineligible recipients

Maharashtra's flagship Ladki Bahin scheme paid out Rs 9,605 crore to beneficiaries who were later found to be ineligible, according to data obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application.

The scheme, launched in July 2024 by the BJP-led Mahayuti government, provides a monthly payment of Rs 1,500 to eligible women from economically weaker sections. The data shows that repeated checks of the beneficiary list did not immediately eliminate all those who did not meet the criteria.

92 lakh ineligible beneficiaries identified

According to the RTI data, 9.2 million beneficiaries had received payments despite being ineligible by June 2026. The largest group, around 6.2 million beneficiaries, was removed after failing to complete e-KYC.

Another 1.6 million were excluded because their family income was above the annual Rs 2.5 lakh limit. Around 360,000 beneficiaries were found to be receiving assistance under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana, while 250,000 were removed because another member of their family was already enrolled.

The checks also identified around 1,80,000 beneficiaries who were above the age limit of 65 and 4,50,000 government employees. Another 1,70,000 were excluded following district-level verification.

Payments exceeded eligible amount

At present, 16.57 million women remain eligible for the monthly assistance. However, the number of beneficiaries receiving payments had crossed 21 million for 17 months until November 2025. Between February and May 2025, it reached as high as 24.72 million.

During that period, monthly payouts crossed Rs 3,640 crore, compared with around Rs 2,450 crore that should have been paid to eligible beneficiaries.

The government spent Rs 76,261 crore on the scheme over 24 months. The RTI data showed 461 million payment credit entries against an expected 397.58 million, resulting in Rs 9,605 crore being transferred through 64.03 million entries linked to ineligible beneficiaries.

Recovery limited to government employees

The government has decided to recover the money only from government employees and officers who received the benefit.

“The decision was announced by the chief minister ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature in June,” said an official with the state women and child development department that oversees the Ladki Bahin Scheme.

“We have written to the district collectorates to recover the money taken by government employees and officers and have sought a report. There are 450,000 such beneficiaries who had received benefits during the initial months, and recovery is due from them. The money will not be recovered from the other beneficiaries,” said the official.

The official added that some beneficiaries who failed to complete e-KYC may have avoided the process fearing action over benefits they were not entitled to.