CAG links unprecedented rise in women’s welfare expenditure to flagship cash-transfer scheme; department admits exclusion figure is only an estimate and has no consolidated district-wise data
Mumbai: Maharashtra recorded expenditure of ₹33,554.36 crore under women’s welfare during 2024-25, driven largely by the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, even as an estimated 80 lakh women were subsequently excluded from the scheme under eligibility rules, documents obtained under the Right to Information Act reveal.
The findings raise questions over the scrutiny carried out before payments were released, the number of subsequently excluded women who had already received benefits, the amount potentially recoverable from ineligible recipients, and the absence of consolidated district-wise data with the Women and Child Development Department.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s State Finances Audit Report for 2024-25, tabled in the Maharashtra Legislature, recorded a dramatic rise in expenditure under women’s welfare—from ₹261.78 crore in 2023-24 to ₹33,554.36 crore in 2024-25.
The CAG attributed the increase particularly to the Ladki Bahin scheme and said it reflected a major push towards welfare-oriented transfers rather than capital formation.
At the same time, expenditure on housing declined by 54.69 per cent and spending on water supply and sanitation fell by 31.81 per cent compared with the previous year. The auditor observed that contraction in infrastructure-related investment within the social sector could adversely affect the sustainability of public service delivery.
RTI reveals large-scale exclusion
In a reply dated July 8, 2026, to an RTI application filed by this correspondent, the Maharashtra Women and Child Development Department stated that the estimated number of women excluded from the scheme’s benefits up to May 2026 was around 80 lakh.
The department said beneficiaries were retained or excluded in accordance with eligibility criteria prescribed through government resolutions dated June 28, July 3 and July 12, 2024.
However, it said the exclusion data was not available in a district-wise consolidated format. It also did not provide an exact, verified statewide figure, describing the 80-lakh number as an estimate.
A separate RTI reply from the same department, dated July 10, 2026, stated that after the e-KYC process and determination of eligibility, approximately 1.65 crore eligible women were paid the scheme benefit in May 2026.
At the monthly assistance rate of ₹1,500, payments to 1.65 crore women amount to approximately ₹2,475 crore a month. If maintained for 12 months, the current beneficiary base would require around ₹29,700 crore annually. This is an annualised estimate based on the May 2026 beneficiary count and not the government’s final booked expenditure for the year.
Questions over payments before scrutiny
The two RTI replies, read with the CAG findings, create an important accountability gap.
The department has not disclosed how many of the estimated 80 lakh excluded women had received one or more instalments before being declared ineligible. Nor has it provided a consolidated figure for the total amount paid to such beneficiaries.
The records supplied also do not disclose:
- the exact number excluded after e-KYC;
- the month-wise and district-wise breakup of exclusions;
- the number removed under each eligibility condition;
- the total amount identified for recovery;
- the number of recovery notices issued;
- the amount actually recovered;
- and the number of cases in which action remains pending.
The department said that, according to information communicated by district-level offices, recovery action had been initiated against some ineligible beneficiaries. It also referred to recovery from government employees found to have taken benefits and said necessary action had been initiated in cases involving male recipients.
But no consolidated statewide figures were supplied for the number of such cases or the money recovered.
The disclosure does not establish that all 80 lakh excluded women had received payments or that the entire amount paid to them was irregular. However, the absence of exact beneficiary and recovery data prevents an assessment of the financial impact of delayed scrutiny.
Scheme introduced amid Assembly election year
The Ladki Bahin scheme was launched in 2024 and promised monthly financial assistance to eligible women. The government made substantial provisions through the original budget and supplementary demands to finance the programme.
Budget papers supplied with the RTI response show that a supplementary provision of ₹14,000 crore was made during 2024-25 for the scheme, apart from other allocations made under relevant departmental heads.
The CAG’s assessment shows that the scheme significantly altered the composition of Maharashtra’s social-sector expenditure within its first year.
Revenue expenditure on Social Services rose to ₹2,26,084.95 crore during 2024-25, with Social Security and Welfare accounting for ₹45,760.13 crore. Of this, the sharpest increase was under women’s welfare, primarily because of Ladki Bahin.
Fiscal pressure intensifies
The expansion came during a year in which Maharashtra’s revenue expenditure exceeded its revenue receipts.
The State recorded revenue receipts of ₹4,81,906.43 crore against revenue expenditure of ₹5,11,901.19 crore, resulting in a revenue deficit of ₹29,994.76 crore.
Borrowings and other liabilities stood at ₹1,24,208.74 crore—about 25 per cent above the original Budget Estimate. The fiscal deficit reached ₹1,24,208.74 crore, while the primary deficit widened to ₹70,753.63 crore.
Although the fiscal deficit remained within the three per cent ceiling under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management framework, the CAG said persistent revenue and primary deficits indicated limited fiscal space and increasing dependence on borrowings to finance current expenditure.
Maharashtra’s committed expenditure on salaries, pensions and interest payments reached ₹2,49,696.74 crore during 2024-25. Along with subsidies of ₹56,089.18 crore, rigid expenditure totalled ₹3,05,785.92 crore—equivalent to 63.45 per cent of revenue receipts.
The CAG warned that such high and inflexible spending compressed fiscal space and restricted the State’s ability to allocate resources for capital investment and developmental priorities.
Ladki Bahin is not necessarily included in the CAG’s subsidy figure and should therefore not be added separately to the ₹3.05 lakh crore total without examining its accounting classification. Nevertheless, the scheme represents a major recurring welfare commitment on an already constrained revenue account.
