The Question is... Who Pays for the 'Blunder' Which Caused a Rs 450 Crore Loss to the Maharashtra Exchequer?
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Two months after the Maharashtra elections, 5 lakh women who were getting money under the Laadki Bahin scheme have been declared 'ineligible'. This scheme is largely credited for the ruling Mahayuti alliance's victory in the state elections.
Each of these 5 lakh women got six instalments of Rs 1,500, which comes to Rs 9,000. So the entire amount given to these 'ineligible' beneficiaries is Rs 450 crore. Read our story to know the maths behind this.
More women are likely to be declared ineligible for this scheme with state government reviewing existing beneficiaries for “flouting norms”. So this figure is likely to increase.
But let's come back to the figure of Rs 450 crore. This is what Maharashtra's exchequer lost in giving cash to people who weren't eligible in the first place.
The question is — how did this happen?
Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that these 5 lakh women flouted certain basic criteria to be eligible for the scheme.
The scheme was for women between 21-65 years of age. About 1.1 lakh women were found to be above 65 years of age
The scheme cannot be availed if someone is receiving cash benefits from any other government scheme. But, 2.3 lakh women were found to be beneficiaries of Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana. The scheme's rules say that no immediate family member must own a four-wheeler vehicle, tractor exempted. But, 1.6 lakh women were found to be beneficiaries of Namo Shakti Yojana or had a four-wheeler in the family.
Then, the scheme is meant for women whose annual family income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh. But, it was found that many of those who got these six instalments had a higher family income.
For more details, read the story on The Quint's website.
Did Maha Govt Give Rs 450 Cr to 'Ineligible' Laadki Bahins? Who Pays?
Some questions here:
5 instalments of the scheme were disbursed before the Assembly elections. Why wasn't the re-verification process conducted before?
What's the government's explanation for the laxity in the registration process?
What's the government's plan to recover the Rs 450 crore lost on these 5 lakh ineligible women?
Who will pay back this money to the state's treasury now?
When did the government realise that 1.1 lakh women are above age 65? Because birth date is something mentioned on documents like Aadhaar. So how did such a blunder take place?
Was it verified whether these Laadki Bahin applicants were already getting money under other government schemes? If yes, how?
What was done to check whether the applicant or their family members have a car or not?
Most importantly, can the state's treasury afford blunders of this scale?
Maharashtra has a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,10,355 crore according to the budget presented in June 2024, and a revenue deficit of Rs 20,151 crore.
Earlier this month, the state government declared that there may be spending cuts to the tune of 5-30% across various departments.
So clearly, the state treasury is struggling at present.
But who in the government will answer for the Rs 450 crore blunder that was committed with the Laadki Bahin Scheme?
Why were these blunders not rectified while 6 instalments were being disbursed?
The losers in this entire episode aren't the government or even the beneficiaries found to be ineligible. The losers are the taxpayers of Maharashtra who have been made to foot the bill for the government's mistake.
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Thank you,
ESHWAR
Associate Editor
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