India, June 2 -- Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday admitted that there were some errors during the initial rollout, owing to the short time between its announcement and the elections.

"When the scheme was introduced, we didn't have much time for a thorough verification process. The elections followed soon after. We had already urged that only genuinely eligible women should apply," he said. Pawar acknowledged that some ineligible individuals may have been enrolled.

The state government led by Devendra Fadnavis has initiated the process to recover Rs.3.58 crore from 2,652 women government employees who were found to have received benefits under the scheme despite being ineligible. The scheme, launched in August 2023 ...