A report in The Indian Express reveals a case related to the Bihar government’s Chief Minister’s Women’s Employment Scheme. The Bihar government has stated that it will not take any “coercive action” to recover money from those who wrongly received benefits under the scheme.
Since the scheme’s inception, eligible women beneficiaries have been receiving ₹10,000 as the first installment. The report states that under the Women’s Employment Scheme, eligible women associated with Jeevika Self-Help Groups (SHGs) were supposed to receive a first installment of ₹10,000 in their bank accounts to start their businesses. However, this clarification came after it was discovered that 470 disabled men had mistakenly received this amount since the scheme was launched two months before the assembly elections.
What went wrong? How did the men receive the money?
Himanshu Pandey, CEO of Bihar Jeevika, himself admitted that in addition to 11 lakh women’s SHGs, there are also 1,000 groups of disabled individuals, and the data got mixed up. This error was caught during an internal audit.
Pandey further stated that 70 cases were identified, particularly in Darbhanga district, where 12 people were sent notices asking them to return the money or have it adjusted in the name of an eligible woman in their family. Many had already spent the money after receiving the installment.
Pandey explicitly stated that the government will not force the recipients to return the money. He acknowledged that some errors can occur when implementing such a large-scale scheme and explained that the discrepancy was discovered internally. He added that the first option given to the men was to adjust the amount in favor of eligible women in their families.
Government’s Decision – What’s the Stand on Recovery?
The Bihar government has made it clear that it will not take any “coercive action” or resort to forced recovery. Pandey said that mistakes happen in large-scale schemes, and the first option is to adjust the payment by transferring it to an eligible woman in the recipient’s family.
Bihar Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar termed this a serious issue and has sought a detailed report from Jeevika officials. The opposition has raised questions regarding this error. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alleged that NDA leaders rushed the scheme to “buy votes” in the elections, resulting in payments being made to men instead of women.
Understanding the Women’s Employment Scheme
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26, 2020, before the Bihar assembly elections. The objective of this scheme is to make women in Bihar self-reliant. Under this scheme, women associated with Jeevika Self-Help Groups (SHGs) receive Rs 10,000 as the first installment to start their businesses. So far, approximately 1.51 crore women have benefited from this installment.
Since the scheme’s inception, approximately 15.1 million women have received ₹10,000 each. If you also wish to benefit from the Women’s Employment Scheme, you must be associated with a Bihar Jeevika Self-Help Group (SHG). After joining, you can fill out the form by visiting your village’s Village Organization (VO) or the Jeevika group office, or by visiting the official website mmry.brlps.in. Women aged 18 to 60 years are eligible to apply for this scheme.
