The candid revelation by Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phaldessai that 10% of the beneficiaries under the Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) are bogus including those ineligible comes as no surprise. Phaldessai must clear the rot that over the years has crept into the system, obviously with political blessings. In 2001 when the Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) was launched, very high-handedly the application forms were available only with Ministers and ruling MLAs who started distributing them on their birthdays. As this was a public scheme, I was constrained to immediately move the High Court, which directed that the application forms be made available to the public at the offices of all the Mamlatdars. It is imperative that the certifying of eligibility for any social welfare schemes should be by revenue authorities and not by an MLA or MP. It is on account of this that hundreds of fraudulent and ineligible persons managed to get themselves enrolled as beneficiaries of public schemes they were not entitled to. Welfare schemes are meant to benefit the truly poor and needy while not being misconstrued as largesse of the political party in power.
