Mumbai, Apr 15 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Aditi Tatkare on Tuesday said no change has been made in the amount of assistance paid to women under the government’s flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, but some 7.74 lakh women already getting Rs 1,000 under another scheme are being paid the difference of Rs 500.

She was responding to media reports claiming that the aid under the Ladki Bahin (Beloved Sister) scheme was reduced for 7,74,148 women who were receiving benefits of other schemes.

Rs 1,500 per month are paid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana to women who are not taking advantage of any other government scheme. To those who are receiving a benefit of less than Rs 1,500 under other schemes, the difference is paid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, said Tatkare, Women and Child Development Minister.

In line with this policy, the difference of Rs 500 is being paid to 7,74,148 women who are receiving Rs 1,000 per month under the Namo Shetkari Samman Yojana, Tatkare said in a post on X.

“No eligible woman has been excluded from the Ladki Bahin scheme, and no change has been made in the said process after July 3, 2024,” said the Nationalist Congress Party leader, adding that she has clarified about the same during the budget session of the state legislature.

The Opposition was constantly spreading misinformation about the scheme and its leaders either have poor understanding of administrative matters or their morale has been hit by the success of the scheme, she claimed.

Earlier in the day, responding to media reports about `reduction’ in the assistance under the scheme, State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said the BJP-led government remembers women and farmers only during elections.

”On the eve of the elections, the Mahayuti coalition promised a farm loan waiver, and after forming a government, it asked farmers to repay their loans. Women are being removed from the list of beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme citing various reasons. The corrupt Mahayuti government is betraying the trust of the people,” he said.

Congress leader Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Bhaskar Jadhav and NCP (SP)’s Jitendra Awhad also targeted the state government over the issue. PTI MR KRK