Maharashtra government reduces Ladki Bahin Yojana stipend for 8 lakh beneficiaries: Report
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has reportedly cut down on the stipend received by eight lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
Under the revised structure, the beneficiaries will receive Rs 500 instead of Rs 1,500 per month because they already receive Rs 1,000 under another government scheme, the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi (NSMN), as reported by the Times of India.
The Ladki Bahin scheme has the stipulation that its beneficiaries can avail other government schemes only if the benefit is capped at Rs. 1,500 per month.
“There has been an ongoing scrutiny. First to scan the applications that were sent by the districts to the state headquarters. And then to re-scrutinise the eligible cases,” TOI report quoted an official as saying.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said he expected the number of beneficiaries to reduce by 10-15 lakh after the scrutiny process. "We are not changing criteria or funding, just ensuring only eligible ones get the stipend," he claimed.
The Opposition remarked that the state government is cheating the women who voted them to power.
The Mahayuti government had launched the Ladki Bahin Yojana in July 2024, where it provides Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women under the scheme. In its poll manifesto ahead of the state Assembly elections, the Mahayuti had promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,100. However, this commitment has not been fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s debt projection is Rs 9.3 lakh crore for 2025-26. The outlay for the Ladki Bahin scheme was reduced from Rs 46,000 crore to Rs 36,000 crore in the 2025-26 budget.
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Guj HC schools cops, asks under which law they stop people from videography inside police station
Ahmedabad: A video of Justice Nirzar S Desai of the Gujarat High Court sharply questioning the state government over the legality of prohibiting videography inside police stations has gone viral on social media, reigniting the debate on citizens' rights and police accountability.
In a pointed exchange during court proceedings, Justice Desai asked the state’s lawyer:
"Tell me under which section videography is prohibited. Today we are living in an era of transparency. Assuming police are doing something illegal and a citizen intends to videograph it – which provision of law empowers you to stop someone from taking videography? Under which provision of law have you stopped the accused from video recording?"
The video has sparked widespread public interest, especially in the context of earlier legal interpretations around filming inside police premises.
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Background: Courts on videography in police stations
The question of whether video recording inside a police station is a punishable offence has previously been addressed by the Bombay High Court. In Ravindra Shitalrao Upadyay v. State of Maharashtra (2022 SCC OnLine Bom 2015), the Aurangabad bench ruled that such recording does not fall under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, which deals with spying. The court noted that police stations are not categorized as "prohibited places" under Section 2(8) of the Act. Therefore, secretly recording inside a police station cannot be treated as an offence under the Official Secrets Act.
