{"id":2159,"date":"2025-05-29T10:53:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T10:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2025-05-29T10:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T10:53:23","slug":"fadnavis-refutes-fund-diversion-claims-says-ladki-bahin-yojana-fully-within-budget-norms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/?p=2159","title":{"rendered":"Fadnavis Refutes Fund Diversion Claims, Says \u2018Ladki Bahin Yojana\u2019 Fully Within Budget Norms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maharashtra Chief Minister <strong>Devendra Fadnavis<\/strong> on Thursday firmly rejected opposition allegations that funds meant for other departments were diverted to the state\u2019s flagship women\u2019s welfare scheme, <strong>Ladki Bahin Yojana<\/strong>, calling the claims baseless and reflective of a poor understanding of budgetary processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to reporters in central Maharashtra, Fadnavis clarified that disbursements made through the <strong>Tribal Affairs<\/strong> and <strong>Social Justice<\/strong> departments for the scheme were <strong>in line with budgetary norms<\/strong>, which mandate that a portion of funds be allocated to personal benefit schemes for <strong>Scheduled Castes (SCs)<\/strong> and <strong>Scheduled Tribes (STs)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe accusations are unfounded. Only those who don\u2019t understand the budget can make such claims,\u201d Fadnavis said. \u201cAs per financial rules, funds for SC\/ST communities should be allocated largely to personal benefit schemes, and the Ladki Bahin Yojana fits this category.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He explained that the scheme\u2019s classification under Tribal Affairs and Social Justice departments is merely an <strong>accounting mechanism<\/strong>, not a diversion of funds. The CM added that both departments have seen their budgets increased by nearly <strong>1.45 times<\/strong> in the <strong>2025-26 financial year<\/strong>, underscoring that no funds were reduced or misused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fadnavis also pointed out that <strong>Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar<\/strong>, who holds the finance portfolio, had already addressed the issue and provided similar clarifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Scheme<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Ladki Bahin Yojana<\/strong>, implemented by the <strong>Women and Child Development Department<\/strong>, provides a <strong>monthly stipend of \u20b91,500<\/strong> to economically disadvantaged women aged <strong>21 to 65 years<\/strong>, whose annual family income is less than <strong>\u20b92.5 lakh<\/strong>. The scheme played a crucial role in the <strong>BJP-led Mahayuti coalition\u2019s<\/strong> sweeping victory in the state assembly elections held in <strong>November 2024<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Social Justice Minister Voices Dissent<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, <strong>Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat<\/strong> of the <strong>Shiv Sena<\/strong> raised concerns over the Finance Department\u2019s handling of the funds. Shirsat alleged that the department, led by Ajit Pawar, diverted funds from his ministry without prior consent, calling it <strong>\u201cillegal and high-handed.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acknowledging the financial strain the scheme has placed on the state\u2019s finances, Shirsat had said, \u201cIf this continues, the government might as well shut down the Social Justice Department.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fadnavis dismissed these concerns, reiterating that all allocations were made transparently and within legal and budgetary frameworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday firmly rejected opposition allegations that funds meant for other departments were diverted to the state\u2019s flagship women\u2019s welfare scheme,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2161,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions\/2161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duggarsamvad.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}