Sunny Leone listed as ‘beneficiary’ of Chhattisgarh government’s cash dole

Raipur

Sunny Leone was a ‘beneficiary’ of the Chhattisgarh government’s Mahatari Vandan scheme and withdrew ₹10,000 from a bank account in Bastar, hence the fraudulent withdrawal of money under the scheme using the actor’s name, says the investigation into the case.

The scheme is a direct cash incentive scheme under which eligible married women of the state are given ₹ 1,000. This was a major election promise made by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2023 assembly election campaign.

A website where the beneficiaries’ data is publicly accessible shows the beneficiary’s name as “Sunny Leone” and her husband’s name as “Johnny Sins”, both actors’ names being misspelled.

Bastar Collector Haris S said that a person identified as Virendra Joshi opened the account and withdrew around Rs 10,000 in the actor’s name. Joshi belongs to the same Bastar village where the fake account was opened. He works in a private company in Jagdalpur and his wife is a beneficiary of the scheme, Mr Haris said.

In the regular course, potential beneficiaries submit an application to a local Anganwadi worker who performs physical verification of the applicant and then forwards the details to his/her supervisor. Mr. Haris said that after the latest disclosure, Anganwadi workers and supervisors are under scanner. The collector said that an investigation is being conducted as to why Mr. Joshi used the name of a specific celebrity.

Earlier this month, the Vishnu Dev Sai government disbursed ₹ 652.04 crore as the tenth installment of the scheme, which counts 70 lakh married women as beneficiaries. So far, more than ₹ 5,000 crore has been directly transferred to the bank accounts of these women under this scheme.

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