Move over ineligible beneficiaries of India's social welfare schemes. Men posing as 'Ladki Bahins' and even becoming 'Lakshmis' have emerged as a byproduct of India's expanding welfare politics.

The latest trend to emerge from welfare audits in states such as Maharashtra and West Bengal is men receiving benefits under schemes meant exclusively for women.

In Maharashtra, a review of the BJP-led government's Ladki Bahin scheme found that nearly 81 lakh beneficiaries out of the total 2.47 crore recipients were ineligible, despite funds already having been disbursed. The review was conducted by the state's department of information and technology.

Among those found ineligible were 14,298 men who had been receiving a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,500 under a scheme for women. Their inclusion indicates that forged documents or incorrect information may have been used to gain access to the welfare programme.

The Maharashtra government estimates that more than Rs 21 crore was disbursed to these ineligible beneficiaries over a period of nearly ten months.

The state government has announced plans to recover the funds from those who wrongly availed the benefits. Cases involving forged documents or false declarations could also attract legal action.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the scheme had initially permitted self-verification because "many did not have sufficient time to submit documents."

The review also found that nearly 10 lakh taxpayers, around 5 lakh government employees and several lakh vehicle owners had been receiving benefits despite not meeting eligibility criteria.

Following the verification exercise, the total number of beneficiaries under the scheme has been reduced from 2.47 crore to 1.7 crore.

A similar controversy has surfaced in West Bengal, where welfare databases have come under increased scrutiny amid allegations that a large number of ineligible beneficiaries were receiving assistance under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari recently claimed that around 30 lakh of the scheme's 2.2 crore beneficiaries are "fake". According to him, more than 3 lakh men have been found receiving benefits under the programme.

"More than 3 lakh men have been found enrolled under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, with nearly 4,000 of them belonging to Murshidabad's Jangipur block. Men were even enrolled under the scheme for widows," Suvendu told reporters on June 7.

Last week, the Bengal government launched an investigation after identifying 173 male beneficiaries under Lakshmir Bhandar in Nadia district's Dhubulia area. The scheme was one of the former TMC government's flagship welfare programmes for women.

According to a report submitted to the district magistrate, the names of the male beneficiaries were inserted into the beneficiary list just two months before the Assembly elections.

The scrutiny was carried out before the present BJP government rolled out Annapurna Bhandar, a women-centric welfare scheme that increased the monthly allowance to Rs 3,000.