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Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar admitted to ‘mistakes’ in distributing financial assistance to all women applicants of the Ladki Bahin scheme launched last year, which he said would be rectified through scrutiny to ensure only genuine beneficiaries receive the aid.
Pawar attributed the lapses to the hasty implementation of the scheme, which was announced months ahead of the state assembly polls held last November.
As reported y PTI, Latching on to the admission of mistakes, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut demanded Pawar’s resignation, alleging that the finance department headed by the NCP leader condoned the ‘loot of government money for the sake of votes’.
“We made a mistake of giving the financial benefit to all women (applicants). We had little time to scrutinise the applications and identify the ineligible ones. At that time, elections were supposed to be announced in two to three months,” Pawar, who heads the Finance Ministry, told reporters in Baramati.
He stressed that the money deposited in the bank accounts of women will not be taken back.
