Hyderabad, July 30 -- Driven by the intent to ensure its victory in the Assembly elections, the ruling Maharashtra government promised during election campaign not just the continuance of its Laadki Bahin Yojana - a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 - but an increment to Rs 2,100. Now it is caught up in its own fiscal carelessness and stands exposed for not doing the due diligence. If anything, the government should be embarrassed that the scheme has been riddled by fraud leading to a loss of Rs 3,951 crore.

Fortunately, instead of merely continuing with the much lauded scheme and 'a sure-shot election winner', the government began to look inwards and started to ferret out information. The least that can be said is that once the findings emerg...