The Maharashtra government disbursed Rs 9,605 crore to 92 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under its Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in two years, reported the Hindustan Times citing data obtained through a Right to Information application.

The scheme, launched in June 2024, provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh per year.

While verification drives removed several categories of ineligible recipients, payments had already been made to them, the Hindustan Times reported.

Of the 92 lakh beneficiaries removed by June 2026, 62 lakh had failed to complete the e-KYC, or Know Your Customer process, the newspaper reported. In the case of 16 lakh beneficiaries, the Rs 2.5 lakh annual family income limit had been exceeded.

Another 3.6 lakh persons were already receiving benefits under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana, 2.5 lakh were removed because another family member was enrolled, 1.8 lakh were over the age limit of 65 and 4.5 lakh were government employees.

A further 1.7 lakh beneficiaries were excluded after district-level verification, the Hindustan Times reported.

However, more than 2.1 crore women received payments for 17 months till November 2025 and the number of beneficiaries was 2.4 crore between February 2025 and May 2025, the newspaper reported.

This pushed monthly payouts above Rs 3,640 crore, compared with Rs 2,450 crore that should have been disbursed.

Over two years, the state government spent Rs 76,261 crore on the scheme, recording 46.1 crore payments instead of the 39.7 crore that should have been made, the newspaper cited RTI data as having shown.

The excess 6.4 crore credit entries accounted for Rs 9,605 crore paid to beneficiaries later found to be ineligible.

The government will recover the money only from government employees and officers who received the payments, the Hindustan Times quoted an unidentified official of the state women and child development department as saying.

The money will not be recovered from other ineligible beneficiaries, the official said.

About 1.6 crore women remain eligible under the scheme, the newspaper reported.

The Ladki Bahin scheme has sparked controversy due to the strain it has placed on the state’s finances. Monthly scrutiny exercises had also flagged numerous instances of ineligible enrolments.

The scheme is said to have played an important role in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance winning 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly in November 2024.

In October, Nationalist Congress Party leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal claimed that all government departments were facing a fund crunch because of the Ladki Bahin scheme.

In February, state minister Ganesh Naik acknowledged that the scheme had put financial strain on government departments but said it would not be discontinued.

In July 2025, a review of the scheme had revealed that more than 14,000 men allegedly received monthly payouts under the scheme for 10 months.

Opposition leaders alleged that the government was reducing the number of beneficiaries because of the state’s financial constraints.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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