Bilaspur: A major case of fraud regarding Chhattisgarh’s ‘Mahtari Vandan Yojana’ has come to light. Eleven teachers and clerical staff members from the Bilha block of Bilaspur district have been identified for availing the scheme’s benefits despite being ineligible. The administration has adopted a strict stance against the families of government employees—specifically teachers and clerks—who claimed these benefits in violation of the rules. Recovery proceedings have now been initiated against them through the Block Education Officer (BEO). Under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, the state government decided to provide ₹1,000 per month to women across the state; however, government employees and their families are not eligible for this benefit. Despite this, government employees—including teachers and clerks—in the Bilha block’s education department were availing the scheme’s benefits by flouting the rules. Several female teachers and female clerks were among those claiming the benefit. An investigation by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) project in Bilha revealed the names of 11 such ineligible beneficiaries. Consequently, the department forwarded details of these government employees to the BEO, Bilha. The identified ineligible women are those whose husbands—or the women themselves—are employed as government teachers, ‘Class 2’ teachers, or assistant teachers. Orders have been issued to recover a total amount of ₹1,24,000 that was improperly transferred to the accounts of these ineligible beneficiaries.
The individuals involved are: Ratna Kshatri (wife of Vinod Kumar Kshatri, Grade 2 government employee), Ganga Bai (wife of Kesar Singh, Grade 2 government employee), Rama Verma (wife of Ravindra Verma, Class 2 teacher), Dineshwari Kurre (wife of Shailesh Kumar Kurre, Class 2 teacher), Kusum Yadav (wife of Rajkumar Yadav, education worker), Godavari Kaushik (wife of Suresh Kaushik, government teacher), Rameshwari Sahu (wife of Rajesh Sahu, Grade 2 government employee), Kirti Patle (wife of Santosh Patle, Grade 1 government employee), Savita Kurre (wife of Gorelal Kurre, assistant teacher), Amar Jyoti Shandilya (wife of Vinod Kumar, assistant teacher), and Lakshmi (wife of Parvinder Kumar, government teacher). Bilha BEO Bhupendra Kaushik stated that the Department of Women and Child Development has identified individuals—including government teachers and clerical staff—who were collecting monthly payments under the guise of the government’s ‘Mahtari Yojana’. An order has been issued to recover these funds from them; if the amount is not deposited, the recovery will be made directly from their salaries.
