Ladli Bahna Yojana aims to financially support Madhya Pradesh women (File)
More than 2,000 women reported receiving smartphone notifications that payments had been sent to their accounts under the Madhya Pradesh government's Ladli Bahna Yojana, a scheme to financially support women of the state, but the funds never arrived. The government maintains that the money was transferred but the accounts were not updated real time.
One of the recipients, Shakuntala Sen, stated that the money had not been deposited into her bank account. She observed that monies for all scheme beneficiaries appear to be routed to an account in Gurgaon.
She said, "I made a complaint to the police, bank but of no avail."
Another beneficiary, Radha Soni, expressed her dissatisfaction, claiming that they have given Aadhaar card and photo at Kaushal Vikas Kendra to acquire skills like as sewing, but their identity credentials were used to open another account into which the money was reportedly moved.
These women claim to have registered at a skill development centre and handed their papers to the relevant company.
They believe these documents were forged in order to open these bogus accounts.
The administration has promised to look into the problem.
"Previously, accounts were opened under the Kaushal Vikas Kendra, but there appears to have been an issue," Satna Collector Anurag Verma said.
"Beneficiaries were notified that money had been sent, but their accounts were not updated. Because the Ladli Bahna Yojana is linked to direct bank transfers (DBT), the system automatically fills in the account information," he added.
However, the question remains: why are beneficiaries having difficulty withdrawing funds, regardless of where the account is located? Is it just a technical glitch, or does it indicate corruption?