More than 14,000 men in Maharashtra allegedly received a monthly payout under the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana for 10 months, the Hindustan Times reported on Sunday, citing a recent review of the scheme by the state government.

The Women and Child Development Department said that 14,298 men had enrolled in the scheme by misrepresenting their identities.

This led to a loss of Rs 21.44 crore to the state exchequer, the newspaper reported. Payments to their accounts have since been stopped.

The scheme, launched in June 2024, provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh a year.

The Ladki Bahin scheme is said to have played a key role in the Mahayuti alliance winning 230 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly in November.

The coalition comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The scheme has sparked controversy due to the strain it has placed on the state’s finances. Monthly scrutiny exercises have also flagged numerous instances of ineligible enrolments under the scheme.

The state government currently spends Rs 3,700 crore to disburse the benefits to 2.41 crore beneficiaries each month under the scheme, the Hindustan Times reported.

On Saturday, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that about 26.34 lakh persons were found to be availing benefits under the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana despite being ineligible, according to the department’s latest review.

“Some beneficiaries were availing benefits of multiple schemes, some families had more than two beneficiaries and in some cases, men had applied for the scheme,” Tatkare added in a social media post.

“Based on this information, starting from June 2025, the benefits for these 26.34 lakh applicants have been temporarily suspended,” she said.

The records of the suspended beneficiaries will be verified by district collectors and payments will be resumed for those found eligible, she added.

Tatkare said that action against “fraudulent beneficiaries” who had “misled” the state and availed benefits improperly would be taken after discussion with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the deputy chief ministers.

Pawar also responded to reports of men fraudulently receiving payouts under the Ladki Bahin scheme and said that strict action would be taken against them, the Hindustan Times reported.

“The Ladki Bahin scheme is for needy women from lower income groups, not for men,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “The state government will recover the money from men who received the money under the scheme. If they don’t cooperate, we will take strict action.”

Also read: ‘Election stunt’: Anger, confusion among Maharashtra women as Ladki Bahin payments falter