PANAJI
In a major crackdown, the State government has recovered almost Rs 13 crore from close to 6,000 bogus beneficiaries of the Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS).
The Directorate of Social Welfare had launched a State-wide survey in a bid to weed out untraceable and deceased recipients and has so far delisted around 6,000 such beneficiaries.
Speaking to media persons, Minister Subhash Faldesai said that in the first phase 6,000 bogus beneficiaries have been identified and an amount of Rs 13 crore has been recovered so far with more recovery underway.
“As the drive is underway, we expect more such cases to come up,” he said.
Faldesai said that many at times banks also do not update passbooks of expired beneficiaries and the money remains with the banks while in many cases, death certificates are not produced before the department and the financial benefits continue.
He said that with 1.40 lakh ceiling, the scheme had reached its saturation point with no new applications being entertained. Efforts are on to weed out bogus or expired beneficiaries so that new applications can be considered, the minister informed.
The move has not only paved the way for clearance of the pending list -- subject to its eligibility -- but also made room for fresh applicants to benefit from the scheme, which provides a minimum monthly pension of Rs 2,500.
“Since our upper limit is 1.40 lakh beneficiaries, this exercise ensures that genuinely deserving persons can now access the scheme,” he added.
Faldesai, however, admitted delay in release of payment by a month or two. “Due to several reasons, the payments are delayed but we are trying to streamline it,” he said.
