Benefit of Social Security Schemes

21/09/2018

A major scandal has surfaced in the Social Welfare Department whereby benefit of Social Security Schemes is being extended to the large number of ineligible persons including Government servants. Moreover, financial assistance is found to be drawn on the names of dead and fake persons thereby causing huge loss to the exchequer. The startling revelations, which have come to the fore in Doda district, have made it imperative for the Government to get verification of beneficiaries of these schemes conducted in all the districts of the State so as to weed out ineligible persons from the lists and to put an end to the long wait of deserving persons for obtaining benefit. Deputy Commissioner Doda, Simrandeep Singh recently collected data of beneficiaries seeking pensions under the Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS) of the State Government and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) of the Union Government in the categories of old age, widow and physically challenged persons from the District Social Welfare Officer.
It has surfaced that financial assistance of Rs 1000 per month is being drawn on the names of 780 dead persons across the district while as 165 widows, who have been shown as the beneficiaries, don't meet the eligibility criteria on account of their re-marriage etc, sources informed. Similarly, 252 persons are being given disability pension despite the fact that the status of their disability is doubtful. Moreover, 710 pensioners of these schemes could not be traced during the extensive exercise conducted by the Tehsildars, which means they are not residing at the addresses shown against their names in the lists prepared by the Social Welfare Department.
Most shocking aspect is that 23 Government employees are also getting pension under these schemes although they are not eligible for the same and these employees belong to Education, Public Health Engineering, Police and Revenue Departments. It is a matter of serious concern that Social Welfare Department never tried to conduct such a verification of the beneficiaries and allowed the loss to the exchequer and the startling revelations came to fore in the Doda district should be an eye opener for the Government particularly those at the helm of affairs in the Social Welfare Department and such a verification should be conducted in all the districts of the State so as to weed out ineligible persons from the lists of the beneficiaries. It is pertinent to mention here that whenever the issue of pending applications under ISSS and NSAP came up for discussion in the State Legislature it was stated that their disposal would be ensured following increase in allocation under these schemes by the State and Union Governments.

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