The story so far: Ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the State government launched the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. Under this scheme, eligible women in the State receive ₹1,500 every month through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). At its peak, the scheme covered 2.43 crore beneficiaries. However, successive rounds of verification over the past two years have led to the removal of lakhs of beneficiaries, bringing the total down to about 1.66 crore women.
The recent removal of lakhs of women from the beneficiaries’ list has sparked criticism, and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has raised concerns about the scheme.
Women who are residents of Maharashtra, aged between 21 and 65 years, with an Aadhaar-linked bank account, and belonging to a family with an annual income of less than ₹2.5 lakh are eligible to receive benefits under the scheme. Women of any marital status, including those who are married, widowed, divorced or unmarried, are eligible. However, only one woman per family can avail of the benefit.
The Maharashtra government said the scheme, launched in June 2024 ahead of the Assembly elections, is aimed at promoting the economic independence of women. It also seeks to improve their health and nutritional status, and strengthen their role in family decision-making, according to the government. The scheme is implemented by the State’s Women and Child Development Department.
The CAG said the implementation of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana during 2024-25 was marked by “significant deficiencies in Budget estimation, expenditure control, and financial management.” While the scheme was allocated ₹29,693.09 crore for the fiscal year, the government incurred an expenditure of ₹33,237.24 crore, resulting in an excess expenditure of ₹3,541.16 crore. The CAG described the excess expenditure was “unjustified” and said the Women and Child Development Department failed to provide any specific justification for the overspending.
It further observed that funds for the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana were mobilised by reappropriating allocations from other schemes. For instance, ₹3,490.75 crore was reappropriated from the Lek Ladki Yojana. The State’s supplementary Budget also allocated ₹26,200 crore for the scheme.
The CAG also expressed concern that the scheme undermined the principles of budgetary discipline, financial propriety and legislative control over public finances. It said that “significant excess expenditure remained unexplained” and that large sums were drawn and parked in the Disbursing Officer’s Virtual Personal Deposit Account (VPDA). “This indicates that the funds were not required for immediate utilisation and were drawn without actual expenditure needs, contrary to the principles of budgetary discipline and financial propriety,” the CAG observed.
“A test check of vouchers exceeding ₹1,000 crore relating to the scheme, aggregating ₹29,732.01 crore, showed that ₹15,586 crore drawn between January and March 2025 was transferred to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer’s VPDA,” the report said.
At its peak, the scheme had 2.43 crore beneficiaries. According to the Maharashtra government, the number has since fallen to 1.66 crore. The government said the names were removed after multiple rounds of verification found that some beneficiaries no longer met the eligibility criteria. It maintained that there has been no change in the eligibility norms and attributed the reduction to the verification process.
The government also cited that the mandatory e-KYC requirement as a key reason for the drop in the number of beneficiaries, saying many women failed to complete the process. A Shiv Sena leader has now urged the State government to extend the deadline for completing the mandatory e-KYC process.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has accused the government of using the scheme to secure electoral gains. The Congress has demanded the immediate restoration of benefits for lakhs of women who were excluded over e-KYC-related issues, and called for a comprehensive inquiry into the implementation of the scheme.
The Opposition has also criticised the government for failing to fulfil its promise of increasing the monthly assistance from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 ahead of the State Assembly elections.
Published - July 16, 2026 04:29 pm IST