Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme: State to ink MoU with I-T dept to access info of women beneficiaries having taxpayers in their families

Indian Express

27-06-2025

The state women and child development department is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Income tax department to exchange data and get details of women beneficiaries who received monetary benefits under the Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, despite a member of their family being a taxpayer.
The MoU will also include a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect the identity of taxpayers and associated information. 'There will be an exchange of information between the Income Tax department and the state government. It is important that the information shared needs to be protected and not disclosed. Hence the agreement will be signed,' said an official from the women and child development department.
The state government launched the Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme on June 28, 2024, whereby Rs 1500 is deposited per month in the accounts of women beneficiaries who are below poverty line. Around 2.4 crore women are currently beneficiaries of this scheme.
One of the criterion of this scheme was that none of the family members of the women beneficiaries should be income taxpayers. The scheme, which was launched ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, had come under scrutiny after reports of a number of ineligible beneficiaries being enrolled emerged.
The state women and child development department was in talks with the Union Finance ministry for the share of data of taxpayers to intensify the scrutiny process. After getting the clearances from the top, the move to share data has begun.
The department will sign an MoU with the Income Tax department for the same, whereby terms and conditions of the sharing of data of taxpayers will be decided. The NDA will be an important part of the process to avoid any leak.
The women and child development department has been scrutinising the list since January. During a scrutiny last month, around 2,200 beneficiaries of the scheme were found to be government employees. In February, around five lakh women were found ineligible for the scheme. A cumulative sum of Rs 450 crore has been transferred into the bank accounts of the ineligible beneficiaries.