Maharashtra government duped women under Ladki Bahin scheme: Congress
The Congress on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government of using the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana for electoral gains
The Congress on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government of using the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana for electoral gains before the Assembly polls and then excluding lakhs of beneficiaries from the scheme. The party demanded that the benefit be restored immediately to eligible women. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil alleged that nearly 62 lakh women had been removed from the scheme over e-KYC-related issues and sought a comprehensive inquiry into its implementation. Citing a recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, he described it as “only the tip of the iceberg” and alleged that the scheme was rolled out despite warnings from the State finance department about its fiscal sustainability.
He said the Mahayuti government launched the programme ahead of the Assembly elections even though it would impose an annual burden of about ₹44,000 crore and later promised to raise the monthly assistance from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 after the polls. Patil alleged that nearly 38% of beneficiaries had already been excluded and said that internal discussions suggested the figure could eventually cross 50%. “Poor women are being punished because many of them neither own smartphones nor have the digital literacy required to complete e-KYC. The government must carry out doorstep verification and restore benefits to every eligible beneficiary,” he said.
Questioning the implementation of the scheme, Mr. Patil asked how ineligible beneficiaries, including men, government employees and recipients of other welfare programmes, were approved. “The government must identify who authorised these approvals and fix accountability instead of shifting the blame to lower-level officials,” he said. Referring to the CAG report, he alleged financial irregularities, claiming that while ₹29,732 crore had been sanctioned through Drawing and Disbursing Officers’ virtual personal deposit accounts, expenditure stood at ₹33,237 crore, leaving an unexplained gap of ₹3,541 crore. He demanded that the Maharashtra government explain the discrepancy.
The Congress alleged that the State had failed to establish an effective grievance redressal mechanism for women removed from the scheme and reiterated its demand for restoration of benefits, government-assisted completion of e-KYC and a thorough probe into the alleged irregularities.
The BriefWire