Jharkhand’s ‘Maiya Samman Yojana’ Targeted by Large-Scale Fraud

Bokaro: A major fraud has come to light involving Jharkhand’s ‘Maiya Samman Yojana,’ a state-run welfare program aimed at benefiting women. Investigations revealed that a single bank account in West Bengal was fraudulently used 95 times to submit fake applications in the Bokaro district. The account belongs to Yusuf, a resident of Patagoda, Barakhanti, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal. The scam was uncovered after Bokaro Deputy Commissioner (DC) Vijaya Jadhav ordered physical verification of beneficiaries.

The investigation has traced 67 fake applications to Chas Block (Chas Municipal Area) and 28 to Gomia Block, all linked to the same IndusInd Bank account (100253387047) registered under Yusuf’s name. The fraudulent applications were submitted using a CSC ID (542316220013) associated with VLE Sumit Kumar from Medininagar, Palamu district. The scammers used fake ration cards and tribal surnames like Kisku, Hansda, and Murmu to make the applications appear authentic.

A particularly alarming finding was that more than 60 applications were submitted and approved on a single day, November 21, 2024, by BDO/CO-level officials. Upon discovering the fraud, DC Vijaya Jadhav acted swiftly by freezing all related payments and directing the filing of a First Information Report (FIR). In total, 11,200 potentially fraudulent applications have been flagged across the Bokaro district, prompting Anganwadi workers to re-verify the beneficiaries.

The government has committed to a thorough investigation, and authorities have pledged strict legal action against those responsible. Of the 3.61 lakh women targeted by the ‘Maiya Samman Yojana,’ 3.50 lakh have already received payments. However, 10,200 applications were rejected due to issues such as duplicate entries, Aadhaar mismatches, and other discrepancies.