How Men Received Rs 10,000 Each Under Bihar’s Mukhyamantri 'Mahila' Rojgar Yojana

The Bihar government on Thursday clarified that it will not take any coercive action against 470 differently abled men who received Rs 10,000 each under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojna ahead of the Assembly elections.

Since the launch of the scheme, around 1.5 crore women have received Rs 10,000 each. The beneficiaries are required to be members of the Bihar government’s Jeevika Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Bihar Jeevika CEO Himanshu Pandey told The New Indian Express that the government would not force the recipients to return the money. 

The development comes amid reports that Bihar officials are struggling to recover Rs 10,000 wrongly credited to men under the women-only scheme. News agency PTI reported earlier that many recipients have already spent the money on Chhath and Diwali or other expenses. According to a report by NavbharatTimes, Darbhanga alone has reported 70 such cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the controversial cash transfer scheme on Sept. 26. The announcement had led to a political storm as it came just days before Bihar voted for Assembly polls, which the BJP-JDU alliance won.

Jeevika officials, responsible for executing the program, said the money was wrongly credited to some men due to technical glitches in Ahiyari village of Jale constituency and elsewhere as their are such groups of divyang (Persons with Disabilities) as well. Notices were issued to at least three male villagers by the block project director. These men are disabled and economically poor.

Men who received the notices have urged the government to waive the amount, saying they have already spent the money, PTI reported.

“I did not apply for the amount. The government transferred Rs 10,000 to my account. I am a disabled person, so I spent it….now we are getting notices…I request Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other officials to forgive us and waive the amount," cash recipient Nagendra Ram told PTI.

Jeevika scheme comes under the Rural Development Department. Speaking to PTI, Bihar Rural Development Minister Sharwan Kumar said he has asked Jeevika officials to submit a detailed report.