the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the government has purged rogue, dead and out-migrated beneficiaries and was saving around Rs 2 crore of its monthly spend on Dayanand Social Security and Griha Aadhar schemes.
Parrikar said, nearly 96,882 of the total 2.34 lakh odd beneficiaries of the two schemes were surveyed thus far and 3,733 of these had themselves voluntarily given up their claims because they were ineligible and another 4,465 were found to have died. Some others had migrated out of Goa and India, he added.
Parrikar, who was standing in for the ailing Pandurang Madkaikar, said: “We have stopped the payments to these accounts.”
The chief minister was replying to the query tabled by Velim MLA, Filipe Nery Rodrigues during Question Hour and said the “impact assessment survey” of the schemes’ beneficiaries is expected to be completed by November-December this year.
He also said that in cases where there is blatant and willful suppression or dissemination of false information, complaints will be filed and criminal prosecution launched against the rogue beneficiaries.
Rodrigues, however, suggested that the scrutiny should be made full-proof at the application level itself instead of having to conduct a survey of beneficiaries to check misuse. But the chief minister said some additional checks and balances for the scheme at the time of application are being worked out, and added, in case of the death, its incumbent on the families to inform the department immediately.
Parrikar also conceded that there could be 2-3 percent error margin in the work of the surveyors.
“There are instances where homes of beneficiaries are found locked. In such cases neighbours, due to some enemity inform the surveyors that he/she is dead and the name gets struck down,” Parrikar said, adding that the aggrieved beneficiary in such cases should write to the department and the benefit will be restored.
Opposition Leader, Chandrakant Kavlekar and NCP MLA, Churchill Alemao, brought such cases to light.
To another supplementary by Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar, the chief minister said neither of the schemes have been kept on hold because of the survey and insisted that fresh applications are being processed and cleared.
The government has cleared 400 fresh applications for the scheme in the last lot in June, Parrikar said.
