No funds recovery yet from ineligible Ladki Bahin beneficiaries, reveals RTI query

Pune: The women and child development (WCD) department has not initiated any recovery of funds disbursed to ineligible beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, a Right to Information (RTI) reply has revealed.In a written response dated April 23, the department informed RTI applicant Vihar Durve that an estimated 12,757 men had availed benefits under the scheme, which is meant exclusively for women. These beneficiaries received Rs 1,500 per month between July 2024 and July 2025.The reply stated that while disbursal to these ineligible beneficiaries was stopped from Aug 2025, "no decision has been taken at the govt level yet to take action against them"."This indicates that the process of recovering the wrongly disbursed funds has not yet begun," Durve said, adding that the RTI response makes it clear that no rules have been framed to recover public money or fix accountability for officials responsible for the lapse."There are reports of recovery on social media, but the RTI reply clearly states otherwise," he told TOI.The disclosure comes months after state govt acknowledged irregularities in the implementation of the scheme and flagged cases of wrongful inclusion. Earlier, the govt had indicated that action would be taken and funds recovered from ineligible recipients, including men and women who did not meet the eligibility criteria.While the RTI reply confirmed that no recovery has been made so far, queries sent to WCD department officials remained unanswered. TOI also reached out to WCD minister Aditi Tatkare and the department secretary to ascertain when the recovery process would begin, but received no response.The Ladki Bahin Yojana accounts for the largest share of the department's expenditure. Activists pointed out that any failure to recover funds from ineligible beneficiaries would amount to a loss to the public exchequer."If there are ineligible beneficiaries, the govt must retrieve the amount, as it is taxpayers' money. Several key departmental projects have seen reduced allocations to accommodate this scheme, which was also a major factor in the Mahayuti alliance's win in the 2024 Assembly elections," said an activist.
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