New Delhi: Details of yet another scam seem to be emerging from Bihar, with an official of the State Bank of India’s branch of Mushahari block in Muzaffarpur district suspected of swindling government funds meant to provide financial aid for pregnant women.Many instances of elderly women being falsely registered as beneficiaries in a scheme meant to encourage institutional deliveries have been reported at the Mushahari block community health centre. While one report says that 18 women were falsely registered as beneficiaries, others say the number is as high as 50.Officials of SBI and the community health centre are suspected to have opened bank accounts in the name of these women without their knowledge.Under the National Maternity Benefits Scheme, a pregnant woman receives Rs 1,400 and the ASHA worker who brings the woman to a primary health care centre is paid Rs 600. According to an Indian Express report, on August 2, this amount was transferred to the accounts of 18 women. However, on the very next day, it was withdrawn without the knowledge of the women.Following this, 65-year-old Leela Devi, a resident of Chhoti Kothia village, was visited by an operator of a customer service point of SBI and was told that the amount deposited by the government in her account was wrongly transferred to another account.Devi, who does not is not a beneficiary of any government schemes, became suspicious. She checked with the Mushahari block community health centre and found out that she and 17 other women, who were not pregnant, had been wrongly listed as beneficiaries.“Instead of visiting the customer service point, I visited the Mushahari block community health centre and learnt that 17 women from my village and another from the adjoining Rahua village were listed as beneficiaries of an institutional delivery scheme,” she said.Also read: COVID-19 Lockdown: Guidelines Are Not Enough to Ensure Pregnant Women Receive CareAs per the records at the Mushahari block community health centre, Devi had given birth to 13 children in the past 18 months.The block community health centre records of another resident from the Chhoti Kothia village, 59-year-old Sheela Devi, also show that she has given birth to eight children in the past 13 months. Devi has four children and the youngest is a 17-year-old daughter.Records show that Shanti Devi, who gets an old age pension and has not been pregnant in the past 20 years, has given birth six times within 13 months. “It indicates the racketeers not only knew the bank accounts but they also managed to hoodwink the entire system to loot the government funds,” she told the New Indian Express.Since the accounts of all the women were opened by the customer service point operator Sushil Kumar, he is suspected to be involved in the scam. He is absconding and has not yet been named in the case. The Muzaffarpur Police have, however, booked Community Health Centre accountant Awadhesh Kumar, who is also absconding, in connection with the fraud.The district magistrate has also asked all primary healthcare centres to submit payment details of institutional deliveries in the past two years. The DM has ordered the officers to investigate the case.“It has been found that money was transferred to the account of some organisation. We will get to know about all those involved in the fraud,” said Kamal Singh.A four-member committee headed by ADM Rajesh Kumar has also submitted a report in connection with the matter.