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Time of India
18 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
1.2 lakh orphans across Maharashtra fail to get monthly assistance of Rs 2,250 from state govt
Nashik: More than 1.2 lakh orphaned children across Maharashtra have not received the monthly monetary assistance from state govt since Sept 2024. The guardians of these children have alleged that the assistance was stopped after state govt began providing aid to women through the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The children are given assistance under the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Child Care Scheme. The list includes children who lost either one or both their parents due to Covid-19. A senior officer from the Women and Child Development Commissionerate, Pune, admitted that there were more than 1.2 lakh such orphans across the state who received the assistance and have not received any money for 10 months now. "There has been some technical issue regarding funds, and as soon as it is resolved, the funds will be cleared," he said on the condition of anonymity. When asked if the reason for the non-disbursal of funds to these orphans was connected to the Ladki Bahin scheme, the officer refused to comment. Despite several attempts, state minister for women and child development Aditi Tatkare was not available for comment till the time of going to press. According to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2024-25, the scheme had 80,224 beneficiaries in 2023-24 and 1,05,595 beneficiaries till Dec 2024. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gjør dette før du legger deg og se magen krympe Beauty Ideas Les mer Undo Maharashtra govt incurred an expenditure of Rs 190.97 crore in the 2023-24 financial year. However, till Dec 2024, govt had only spent Rs 40.5 crore on the scheme. There are as many as 7,300 such orphans receiving aid in Nashik district. They last got the money in their accounts in Aug 2024. Panchavati resident Sanket*, one of the beneficiaries of the scheme, said, he received Rs 2,250 every month in his bank account directly from state govt. "I lost both my parents to Covid. I stay with my maternal uncle, who is a labourer. My sister and I are not receiving the aid now. We don't know when we will get this assistance regularly," he said. Std VIII student Aziz*, who lives in the Old City area, faced a similar plight. "I lost my father due to Covid-19. I have a younger brother, and my mother works in a private hospital. The assistance helped us get admission in a good private school," he said. Aziz added: "The non-receipt of assistance is taking a toll on me and my school, which is putting pressure on my family for the fees." Many guardians said the children were not a burden on them but sought govt assistance due to the situation they were forced into since Covid. "My wife succumbed to Covid, and it happened despite spending a huge amount on medicines. I had to sell my two-wheeler and other valuables to arrange for funds of about Rs 1.5 lakh. I also lost my job. This is the reason that I am seeking govt assistance for the future of my two children," said Ramesh Patil, a worried parent. The beneficiaries include orphans under the age of 18, children whose parents cannot be traced, kids who have not been adopted, those who have lost one parent or are impacted due to family disputes and under govt child care. Children of people with leprosy, HIV or other serious life-threatening ailments, or kids of convicts serving life sentence and those whose both parents have a handicap are also eligible for the financial assistance.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Ladki Bahin scheme: BJP's Bawankule refutes charges of illegal fund diversion
Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday rubbished claims that the state government diverted funds from other departments for the Ladki Bahin scheme , asserting that the Devendra Fadnavis-led dispensation was committed to safeguarding the vulnerable sections of society. In the recent past, state Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat accused the Ajit Pawar-led Finance Department of high-handedness in what he termed as illegal diversion of funds from his department without his knowledge. Acknowledging that the state was facing financial constraints due to the women-centric welfare scheme launched last year ahead of the assembly polls, the Shiv Sena minister had said the state government should better "shut" the Social Justice Department instead of periodic diversion of the allocated funds. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Don't Forget To Block Ads Before Wednesday Lifestyle Tech Tips Click Here Undo Also Read: After Ladki Bahin scheme, Maharashtra hikes liquor duties to ease cash crunch Under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Mahayuti government's flagship scheme launched in August 2024, a monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 is given to eligible women in the state. The scheme's estimated annual outlay is more than Rs 40,000 crore. Live Events Responding to a question related to Shirsat's allegations, Bawankule, who is also the state chief of the ruling BJP , said, "There is a legal provision which ensures that funds earmarked for departments like Social Justice and Tribal Development, cannot be diverted for any other purpose." "These funds are reserved and the government has no power to override those provisions. At times, there could be delays in disbursement of funds, but that should not be misconstrued as diversion," he added. He asserted that the Fadnavis government was committed to safeguarding the budgetary allocations made for the vulnerable sections of society. "This administration will never interfere with or misappropriate funds allocated to the Social Justice and Tribal Development departments," he said. Shirsat had claimed on May 2 that funds of more than Rs 413 crore were reallocated from the Social Justice Department to finance the Ladki Bahin scheme. He also alleged that an additional Rs 335 crore had been diverted from the Tribal Development Department in a similar way. Claiming that these reallocations were done unilaterally and in violation of constitutional safeguards, he had also said that if the government does not need the Social Justice Department, it might as well dissolve it entirely rather than continuing to undermine its financial capacity. Days later, he again said such diversions would cripple operations of his department and erode public trust in the welfare programmes meant for underprivileged groups. The issue brought to the fore the internal friction within the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP. Responding to the accusations, Ajit Pawar had earlier downplayed the matter and suggested that such disagreements should have been addressed within cabinet meetings rather than in public. CM Fadnavis had also clarified that no funds were diverted from other departments for the Ladki Bahin scheme, and said those who do not understand the budget were making unsubstantiated claims. "The charges (of fund diversion for the Ladki Bahin Yojana) are wrong. Only those who don't understand the budget can make such a charge. Rules say funds should be reserved for SCs/STs. Maximum funds should be reserved for personal benefit schemes and some for infrastructure development," the CM said in the last week of May. "Ladki Bahin Yojana falls under the category of giving personal benefit to beneficiaries. So, if you give money to this scheme, then as per budgetary rules, it has to be shown under the Tribal Affairs Department and the Social Justice Department," he said.
The Print
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Rakhi gift before polls, now strain on coffers, how Mahayuti's Ladki Bahin scheme has undergone a squeeze
But since July last year, she's got some relief—an additional Rs 1,500 a month under the Maharashtra government's Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, launched just ahead of Raksha Bandhan. The monthly stipend was promoted as a 'gift from a brother to the sisters in the state'. As a result, her income has dropped while prices of basic commodities keep rising, making it difficult for her to make ends meet. Mumbai: Shaila Jaiswal, a domestic worker in Mumbai, used to juggle work in five houses before the COVID-19 pandemic. But post-pandemic, the number has dwindled to just two. 'It is not much. However, I still have some money to take care of my expenses. And that is why when the government announced the scheme, I immediately applied for it,' said Shaila. Shaila is not the only one. Millions of lower-income women across Maharashtra stood in long queues to apply for the direct benefit transfer scheme, which helped the Mahayuti coalition win a historic mandate in the assembly elections last November. However, after the election, the Mahayuti government—comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—has tightened scrutiny of the scheme after it found that many women who did not meet the eligibility criteria were on the list. The government is vetting all data and striking ineligible women off the list of beneficiaries while reducing the budgetary allocation for the scheme. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance ministry portfolio, admitted to 'mistakes' in distributing the financial assistance to all women applicants even before checking their eligibility. 'We made a mistake of giving the financial benefit to all women (applicants). We had little time to scrutinise the applications and identify the ineligible ones. At that time, elections were supposed to be announced in two to three months,' he said. 'When the scheme was unveiled, the government had appealed that only eligible women apply but that didn't happen. A scrutiny is being conducted. Only the needy women will get the monthly payout,' he added. The scheme, modelled on Madhya Pradesh's Ladli Bahna programme, was approved on 28 June last year and aimed at women between the ages of 21 and 65 whose family annual income was below Rs 2.5 lakh. But since December, the Mahayuti government has undertaken a massive scrutiny of the applicants, leading to a drop in the number of beneficiaries and drawing strong criticism from the Opposition. Congress senior leader Vijay Wadettiwar told ThePrint that Mahayuti had cheated the people of the state. 'They did this for the sake of votes. This is cheating the voters. They bought votes with government money. So now what is the point of regretting or admitting the mistakes?' he said. Also Read: Solo or together? The big question for Maharashtra alliances this BMC poll season Ladki Bahin scheme The Mahayuti government approved the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in the cabinet after its monumental losses in the Lok Sabha election in June last year, when it won only 17 of 48 parliamentary seats. In the July 2024 budget, the government allocated Rs 46,000 crore for the scheme, which was seen as a potential game-changer for the then-upcoming assembly elections. The government at the time said the scheme aimed 'to ensure economic independence of women in the state, improve their health and nutrition, and strengthen their decisive role in the family'. The applicants started receiving the benefits of the scheme from July, when it was passed in the budget. Despite strict eligibility criteria, the government initially began providing benefits to all applicants. In the first phase, over one crore women benefited from the scheme. The then chief minister, Eknath Shinde, said the ambit of the scheme would be increased to about 2.5 crore women. According to the government, in October, the number of beneficiaries was about 2.63 crore women. This scheme is believed to have given the much-needed swing in favour of the Mahayuti government. The scheme's criteria were clear. Women whose family income was more than Rs 2.5 lakh, or if anyone in their family was paying income tax, were not eligible. Besides, family members of those working with the government or drawing a pension after retirement were disqualified. Another condition was that any woman already receiving benefits of Rs 1,500 or above from other government schemes would not qualify. Also, those who owned four-wheelers in their families were considered ineligible. The twists and turns in the scheme During the election campaign, Shinde had even announced that women could get double the amount if they voted Mahayuti back to power in the assembly polls. In the manifesto, the Mahayuti government said that if voted to power, women would get Rs 2,100 instead of Rs 1,500 per month. Concerns were raised about whether the state treasury had the funds to foot the additional bill but then Finance Minister Pawar said the calculations were sound and there was no need to worry. However, after the election, the situation began to change. The revised amount still hasn't been disbursed and the government didn't mention Rs 2,100 in its first budget after the election either. If anything, this year's budget slashed the allocation for the scheme to Rs 36,000 crore from Rs 46,000 crore in the July 2024 budget. The state government justified the move, saying that the actual expenditure on the scheme from July 2024 was lower than anticipated at Rs 33,232 crore. 'It's important to maintain financial discipline in the budget, and that has been considered … When we made estimates for the budget for Ladki Bahin last time, we realised the actual spend was less than our estimates. So, this time, we have based our estimates on the actual spend. And if you notice, it is more than the actual spend of last year,' Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at a press conference after the budget speech. Currently, the government spends Rs 3,500-4,000 crore a month on this scheme. But opposition leader Wadettiwar alleged the scrutiny was being carried out because the state was facing a financial crunch. Currently, Maharashtra is saddled with a debt of nearly Rs 10 lakh crore. 'I feel they do not have the bandwidth and capability to handle this scheme and hence they are cutting down the funds or removing people from this scheme. Then why did you bring this scheme if you can't fund it?' Wadettiwar said. Also Read: Not Noddy, Tom & Pingu, but 'Adu, Sanju & Teju'—BJP wants Mumbaikar penguins to have Marathi names Weeding out the ineligibles After coming back to power, the state government announced that it would scrutinise the beneficiaries as it felt that many ineligible women had received the benefit. Finance Minister Pawar admitted that the scrutiny was not done earlier because of the elections. To this, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, earlier this week while speaking to the media in Nashik, demanded Pawar's resignation. 'This fraud is done through the finance department. Who disbursed the money? Who looted the state money? Not ladki bahin but ladke bhau (beloved brothers, referring to the leaders) cheated the state. You let government employees take advantage of this scheme and you did not do the scrutiny earlier because you wanted votes,' he said. Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare told ThePrint that the scrutiny was not done earlier because of the model code of conduct from October before the election. And once it was lifted in December, her department initiated this process. 'This is not new and unique. For any scheme, a scrutiny is done. In fact, it was our department that initiated this process. No one told us. Initially, a few women themselves came forward and returned the money as they were either beneficiaries of some other schemes or they shifted out of the state or for some other reason,' Tatkare said. According to the minister, women are being dropped from the scheme for many reasons. Some were eligible when the scheme was launched but later married into neighbouring states. This is especially true for districts bordering Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat, she said. Others were removed due to death or a change in employment status such as getting a government job, which put them outside the income limit. 'One thing that is good about this scrutiny is the Aadhaar linkage. It is mandatory that women do their Aadhaar linkage and because of this, 50 lakh women got their Aadhaar linked to bank accounts so they easily get benefits from other schemes too,' Tatkare said. The women and child development department is in talks with different departments to identify ineligible candidates and is in the process of drawing up a list of women beneficiaries under other schemes like the Namo Shetkari Samman Yojana and Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana. These women will be dropped from the scheme. Tatkare said they are awaiting a list from the Income Tax Department to verify the family income of beneficiaries. Data for about 6 lakh women is expected, and those found to be income tax payers will be dropped from the beneficiary list. She also said that in January, officials reviewed records of 2 lakh out of 8 lakh women, and found over 2,200 women were government employees. All of them were removed from the scheme. The transport department is also expected to check whether beneficiaries have four-wheelers or not. She says they hope to receive the date by next month. Tatkare rejected opposition claims that the government rolled out the scheme only to get votes in the election and would now scrap the plan. 'This is a misconception. The scheme will not be scrapped, nor will the money be taken back from those ineligible women. The data will just be cleaned and updated,' Tatkare said. After the government vetted the data, the number of beneficiaries dropped to 2.52 crore by February and by May, it was 2.47 crore. Some women were weeded out because they were a part of other schemes. For instance, some 7.7 lakh women were getting Rs 1,000 a month under the Namo Shetkari scheme. And so the government decided to give them only Rs 500 under the Ladki Bahin scheme. 'These reductions are because of the overlap with other welfare schemes,' Tatkare said. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said the government was cheating women voters. 'Recently, the state govt took a U-turn on its farm loan waiver promise, and now by reducing the Ladki Bahin dole for 8 lakh beneficiaries, it has betrayed the people of the state,' he said. Upset allies However, even Tatkare's cabinet colleagues are upset with her department. Last month, the state government diverted some of the funds from the tribal development department (about Rs 335 crore) and the social justice department (Rs 410 crore) to the Ladki Bahin scheme. This was the third transfer this year to the scheme. The opposition claimed the government took the step because it was facing a financial crunch. NCP(SP) leader Rohit Pawar told the media last week that the government should find other ways to fund the scheme and not divert funds from the social justice and tribal departments. Wadettiwar also questioned the state government's decision to cut funding from existing welfare schemes to finance the Ladki Bahin programme, asking why support for the scheme should come at the cost of another. It wasn't just the opposition, but Shiv Sena leader and social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat also saw red over this diversion of funds. 'My department's around Rs 425 crore is being redirected. Even earlier, around Rs 7,000 crore was cut from my department and I was not even made aware of this. But if there is no need for the social justice department or nobody wants to give funds to this department, then you can close this department. Why do you need this department anyway?' Shirsat asked at a press conference. The social justice department takes care of welfare schemes for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, and many other marginalised castes. 'This department already faces a fund crunch and one cannot take funds out of this department as it is a mandatory department. I don't know if this is an injustice to us. I feel this is not lawful but the finance department acts in a high-handed manner. This is not right. I oppose this. There is a limit to how much I can tolerate,' Shirsat said. ThePrint reached out to the finance department for a comment. However, the officials refused to talk. But Tatkare defended the move, saying the funds were not taken from the department's actual allocation but from additional allocations. 'I don't understand why there is a misunderstanding over this? We have not touched the actual funds from the department. Social justice and tribal development were allocated an extra 38 percent and 41 percent of funds during the budget. We have taken some funds from the extra allocation. Anyway, Ladki Bahin is a cabinet decision and everyone supported it back then. So I don't see why anyone would be upset over this,' said Tatkare. However, Shirsat acknowledged the financial burden on the state, saying the Rs 1,500 payment could not be increased to Rs 2,100 a month. 'This is a fact which needs to be accepted. But that doesn't mean it will be scrapped,' he said. Tatkare also confirmed to ThePrint that the government hadn't taken a decision yet on whether or when the amount would be raised to Rs 2,100. Meanwhile, with the government busy scrutinising the list of beneficiaries, more and more women who don't fit the scheme's eligibility criteria will be dropped from the list. And women like Shaila Jaiswal, who will cross the age limit of 65 next year, will have to find other sources of income. 'I will now have to register myself in other welfare schemes from next year. I will not get any additional money, which, though not enough, is still something better than nothing,' she said. (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also Read: How Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi e-way took shape with Fadnavis & Shinde taking turns in driver's seat
Hindustan Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Social justice dept again diverts ₹410 crore for Ladki Bahin scheme
Mumbai: The state social justice department has diverted a sum of ₹410 crore for payment of allowances under the Mahayuti government's flagship scheme, the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', which is administered by the state women and child development department. A government resolution to this effect was issued by the social justice department on Thursday, barely a month after a similar amount was diverted for payment of allowances under the scheme for the month of April. The latest move is yet another indicator of the fiscal strain on the state government owing to the cash benefit scheme, which turned out to be a game changer for the ruling Mahayuti coalition during the assembly election held in November last year. 'For the year 2025-26, a sum of ₹3,960 crore has been approved to cover the Scheduled Caste category under the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana'. Following this, it has been decided to divert a sum of ₹410.30 crore to the state women and child development department for release of instalments to beneficiaries for the month of May,' stated the government resolution issued by the social justice department on Thursday. There are 24.6 million registered beneficiaries under the ₹36,000-crore Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides underprivileged women a monthly allowance of ₹1,500. The state government allocates ₹3,800 crore per month towards disbursement of allowances under the scheme. When funds were diverted from the social justice department to the state women and child development department earlier towards payment of allowances for the month of April, social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat had openly rebuked the move, calling it unacceptable. But this time, Shirsat has chosen to maintain silence. When asked by reporters about the diversion on Friday, he merely folded hands and left the spot in his car. Aside from the social justice department, other departments have also been diverting funds for the scheme. As reported by HT on May 25, the tribal development department had diverted ₹335.70 crore twice over the preceding two months towards implementation of the scheme. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, responded on Friday to the criticism about the fresh diversion of funds, saying, 'The people gave us the mandate to fulfill the promises made during the polls, which we are doing.' Pawar also told reporters that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had already clarified the issue of fund diversions earlier. Fadnavis had stated that funds were not being diverted for the Ladki Bahin scheme – instead, funds for the scheme were allocated through the tribal development and social justice departments in resonance with budgetary guidelines. 'As per budgetary rules, funds of the social justice and tribal development departments should be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, respectively. Of the total funds, a major chunk should be reserved for personal benefit schemes and the rest for infrastructure development. Ladki Bahin Yojana falls under the category of personal benefit scheme hence we are giving funds to this scheme as per budgetary rules,' Fadnavis had said. Harshdeep Kamble, principal secretary, social justice department, did not respond to calls and text messages from HT, seeking his comments on the diversion. The Ladki Bahin scheme was credited as one of the major reasons behind the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Mahayuti alliance's landslide victory in the 2024 assembly elections. However, with an estimated revenue deficit of ₹45,892 crore for the 2025-26 financial year, the government is now finding it difficult to make budgetary allocations for Ladki Bahin and other populist schemes announced ahead of the assembly polls. Consequently, it has postponed implementing its poll promise to increase the monthly allowance under Ladki Bahin scheme from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100.
Time of India
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Made a mistake of giving financial benefit to all women': Ajit Pawar on Ladki Bahin scheme; Uddhav Sena cries voter bribe
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Monday admitted that the state government made a "mistake" in extending financial benefits to all applicants of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana without sufficient scrutiny, attributing the lapse to time constraints ahead of last year's assembly elections. 'We made a mistake of giving the financial benefit to all women (applicants). We had little time to scrutinise the applications and identify the ineligible ones. At that time, elections were supposed to be announced in two to three months,' news agency PTI reported Pawar as saying. The Ladki Bahin scheme, launched in August 2024, offers Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women aged 21 to 65 years with an annual income below Rs 2.5 lakh. Though it was designed to empower poor women, scrutiny revealed thousands of ineligible recipients, including over 2,200 government employees. Pawar, who also heads the state's finance department, clarified that the aid already deposited will not be withdrawn. 'When the scheme was unveiled, the government had appealed that only eligible women apply but that didn't happen. A scrutiny is being conducted. Only the needy women will get the monthly payout,' he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Truque caseiro noturno eficaz contra a papada (faça hoje mesmo) Revista & Saúde Saiba Mais Undo His admission drew strong reactions from the opposition. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut demanded Pawar's resignation, accusing him of enabling a misuse of public funds to gain electoral advantage. Raut said the finance department had presided over a 'loot of government money for the sake of votes'. Earlier, Maharashtra minister Aditi Tatkare confirmed the government had disqualified 2,289 ineligible government employees after examining nearly two lakh applications. In a recent post on X, she assured the public that such scrutiny would continue regularly. 'After realising this, such beneficiaries are not being given the benefit of the scheme,' she wrote. The Ladki Bahin scheme was credited with boosting the Mahayuti alliance's performance in the November 2024 assembly elections. However, it has also led to budgetary strain. Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat conceded that the government was under pressure, saying, 'It is a reality that the monthly amount of Rs 1,500 cannot be raised to Rs 2,100.' He added that the scheme would continue even if it required the state to borrow funds. Shirsat also criticised the finance department for diverting funds from his ministry without notice. In March, he alleged that Rs 7,000 crore had been slashed from the Social Justice Department's budget, and on Monday, he called for a law to protect such departments from arbitrary cuts. According to official guidelines, beneficiaries must meet income and residency criteria and provide Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Newly married women can present a marriage certificate if their name does not appear on a ration card. While the scheme aims to support women's economic independence, the government now faces growing scrutiny over its execution.
