the goan I network
PANAJI
Over 5000 Goans availed pension under the Dayanand Social Security Scheme for senior citizens even before they could cut the cake of their 60th birthday, pinching the State exchequer of nearly Rs 36 crore in the period between 2012-17.
This was revealed in the audit of the scheme conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India whose report was presented to the Goa legislative Assembly on Friday by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The benefits of the scheme for senior citizens are to commence from the date of their attaining 60 years but the CAG audit observed that “5227 persons had applied and availed” of financial assistance under the scheme even before they attained the qualifying
age.
“During 2012-17, these persons received Rs 35.91 crore from the date of sanction till reaching the age of 60 years,” the CAG said in the report.
The report also found that in the same 2012-17 period, around 6,223 senior citizens, 3,327 single women and 1162 differently-abled Goans got benefits although they had an annual income greater than Rs 24,000. The loss to the State on account of this creamy layer getting benefits was to the tune of Rs 40.34 crore, the report said.
Besides, the CAG pointed out that beneficiaries of the DSSS were reviewed only twice since the launch of the scheme in January 2002 although their rules mandated review at least once every three years. Also, the evaluation report of the second survey indicated that 25176 of the 1.15 lakh beneficiaries as of March 2013, were ‘non-genuine’. They were issued show-cause notices between 2014-17 and based on the replies received, 11,410 of these ‘doubtful cases’ were ascertained as “genuine” by the Department of Social Welfare, and only 325 were declared ineligible and their pension stopped.
However, the status of the remaining 13321 of the ‘doubtful cases’ was not ascertained as they did not reply to the show-cause notices.
To plug these leaks, the CAG has recommended that a “suitable mechanism” be devised to ensure comprehensive scrutiny at the time of application itself and periodic surveys of beneficiaries be undertaken to weed out ineligible or bogus beneficiaries.
The CAG has also recommended a robust application software system with strong controls and a facility to detect and weed out “ghost beneficiaries” besides strengthening an internal audit system of the implementing department, which in this case is Department of Social Welfare.
Interestingly, Parrikar admitted during the Monsoon Session that a survey is being carried out and by December the over 2-lakh strong list of beneficiaries will be pruned of the bogus ones.
