Mumbai, May 7 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has transferred Rs 17,505.90 crore into the bank accounts of 2.38 crore women beneficiaries under its Ladki Bahin Yojana till December 2024 - in the first five months after the scheme was launched.

This was mentioned in the government's pre-Budget Economic Survey tabled in the legislative assembly on Friday.

The 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', the flagship scheme of the previous Eknath Shinde-led government was formally launched in August last year. Under the scheme, eligible women get financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month through direct benefit transfer (DBT).

In all, 2.38 crore women availed the benefit and expenditure of Rs 17,505.90 crore was incurred up to December, 2024, the Economic Survey report said.

The objective of this scheme is to promote employment and economic development by providing adequate facilities to women and girls in the age group 21 to 65 years. It was also aimed at rehabilitating women economically and socially, making them self-reliant, it said.

The scheme aims to promote the empowerment of women and girls and improve the health and nutritional status of women and children dependent on them, it added.

The Ladki Bahin scheme was touted as one of the primary reasons for the Mahayuti alliance's resounding victory in the November 2024 assembly polls. The ruling alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP won 230 seats in the 288-member assembly.

During the assembly poll campaign, Mahayuti leaders promised to hike the Ladki Bahin monthly aid from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100.

However, the scheme has been attacked by the opposition over its financial viability in a state where the fiscal deficit has touched Rs 2 lakh crore.

The Economic Survey said that as on March 2024, there were 16,30,589 self help groups (SHGs) in Maharashtra having accounts with cooperative banks, regional rural banks, public and private commercial banks, out of which 13,80,838 SHGs (85 per cent) are exclusively for women.

In 2024-25, till December (2024), women SHGs received loans of Rs 10,475.48 crore from various financial institutions, and total internal loans disbursed was Rs 3,779 crore, while total cumulative savings of women SHGs stood at Rs 1,404 crore, the report said.

It also said that complaints regarding marital problems, social problems, rape, property issues, sexual harassment at workplace, harassment at workplace and other problems were received at the counselling branch and legal branch of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women.

The number of crimes against women per lakh female population in the year 2022 was 75, which was 77 in 2023, the report said. PTI MR NP

Women's cash transfer scheme expands direct benefit transfers to millions, aiming to bolster economic empowerment and nutrition. The Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana provides monthly cash assistance to eligible women via direct benefit transfers to advance employment, economic rehabilitation, self reliance and improved health and nutrition. The Economic Survey reports that the scheme reached a large number of beneficiaries with significant early disbursements, alongside extensive activity of women's self help groups receiving loans and building savings. It also documents complaints addressed by counselling and legal branches and notes political calls for benefit increases amid concerns about the scheme's fiscal sustainability.