‎Ladki Bahin Yojana

Ladki Bahin Yojana was introduced by the Maharashtra state government on June 28, 2024, aimed at promoting financial assistance to the economically weaker women in the state. The total annual budget of the scheme was ₹ 46,000 crore. Women aged between 21 to 65 years old, with the maximum annual income of ₹ 2.5 lakh are eligible in spite of the status of woman - unmarried, married , widowed, divorced, abandoned or destitute. The government was initially planning to set the age limit at 61 but during the budget announcement Chief Minister Eknath Shinde raised the age limit to 65 years.

The benefit of this scheme is the monthly financial assistance of ₹ 1,500 which will be transferred directly to the applicant’s bank account along with that the three free LPG gas cylinders will be provided annually. Additionally, the women belonging to Other Backward Class (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) can also receive educational support. The applicant should not be a permanent or retired employee of the government of India or local body of state and the applicant's family member should not be working for any government official. The applicant and her family should not own a four-wheeler vehicle except the tractor. The main aim behind launching this scheme is to make the economically poor women self dependent.

During the occasion of ‘Dharma dhwaj’ inauguration Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde announced the additional diwali bonus of ₹ 1500 as a part of Ladki Bahin Yojana. Instead of the monthly payment of ₹1500, eligible women received ₹3000 in the month of October. He mentioned the reason behind the Diwali bonus was to provide financial relief during the festival and to help women celebrate Diwali without monetary concerns.

The Scheme introduced ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Election raised a controversy in the state. Oppositions were quick to criticize the scheme with concern over the State’s financial stability. They also raised a concern over an applicant receiving payments on time and the opposition claimed that the government is using the fund allocated for subsidy for this scheme. Well some of the opposition leaders called the scheme a desperate political ploy to secure the vote of women.

Close to the election the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an increment in the monthly aid of the Ladki Bahin Yojan scheme from ₹15,00 to 2,100 whereas the opposition party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) planned to provide a monthly aid of ₹ 3,000 to a woman.

In November 2024, BOOM had debunked misinformation regarding Ladki Bahin Yojana. A Pudhari News graphic went viral claiming to show the statement of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’about the formal Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that if he returned as the CM of Maharashtra this time, Thackeray will give the monthly aid of ₹3000 to the hindu women and ₹6000 to the Muslim women.

BOOM found that the viral news graphic was false. BOOM reached out to the editor of the Pudhari News who clarified the viral graphic is fake and the text font used in the graphic is not used by Pudhari News Channel.