3,541 crore in off-budget expenditure. Where was such a large amount of money spent? The Maharashtra government has not given a satisfactory reply. The CAG has pointed out major irregularities in the BJP-led coalition government’s ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Lodki Bahan Yojana’.
In the state’s finance audit report, the CAG said there were “significant irregularities” in budget estimates, expenditure control and financial management for the provision of monthly allowance to women in 2024-2, with no specific explanation for the overspend of Rs 3,541 crore.
The Maharashtra government’s own verification process has shown that the CAG’s ‘danger signal’ is not just a coincidence. Amid uproar over allegations of irregularities, more than 9.2 million names (mostly in Beed district) were dropped from the scheme this year.
The controversial verification process revealed that an estimated 38 percent (2.4 million) of the total beneficiaries had ‘invalid and fake’ accounts! In violation of the conditions, money was deposited into the accounts of numerous government employees, even about 29,000 men, over a period of months.
Meanwhile, the Congress has accused the CAG of corruption in the report. “The BJP government in Maharashtra has committed crores of corruption in the name of Larki Bahin Yojana. The CAG report found serious irregularities in monitoring the financial management of the project. 29,693 crores were sanctioned for the project. However, the government spent another 3,541 crores. The government has no account of this extra expenditure.”
The NDA government in Maharashtra has launched the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ ahead of the 2024 assembly elections. The scheme pays Rs 1,500 per month in the account of women aged 21 to 65 years. However, under the terms of the scheme, government employees, income tax payers, beneficiaries of certain other schemes and families with annual income above Rs 2.5 lakh do not get the allowance.
However, a large number of irregularities have come to light during the examination. It found that most of the excluded 9.2 million (about 6.2 million or 67 percent) do not have the mandatory e-KYC. Along with these ‘fake’ accounts, around 29,000 (0.31 per cent) ‘male’ girls were identified.
1.6 million (17 percent) have family income above Rs 2.5 lakh. Officials involved in the verification process said a total of around Rs 14,000 crore was deposited in these accounts from the start of the project till its closure.