Telangana Govt. Begins Process to Weed Out Bogus Beneficiaries of Welfare Schemes
Hyderabad: The state government has initiated the process to identify bogus beneficiaries of welfare schemes to assess the loss caused to the state exchequer in the last 10 years of the previous BRS regime, official sources said.
A report on the matter will be tabled in the upcoming Budget session of the Assembly expected to begin from July 24, they added.
The government in its probe found that a few pensioners and family members of retired government employees who are getting pensions were also availing Aasara pensions. Officials identified 5,650 such bogus beneficiaries across the state so far and inspection is ongoing. In combined Khammam district alone, 427 bogus beneficiaries of Aasara pensions were found on which Rs 2.50 crore was spent.
Based on these findings, the officials in a few districts issued recovery notices to bogus beneficiaries of Rythu Bandhu and Aasara pensions and directed them to return the amount.
These recovery notices created a furore after they took political colour with opposition BRS attacking the Congress for targeting beneficiaries instead of helping them.
Following this, the government issued strict instructions to officials not to issue recovery notices until the inspection of all welfare schemes is completed, all bogus beneficiaries are identified and the report is placed in the Legislative Assembly to facilitate a comprehensive debate in the House to arrive at a consensus on how to proceed against bogus beneficiaries.
Previous BRS government implemented Aasara pensions, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, free power to agriculture, 2BHK houses for the poor, sheep distribution scheme, spending thousands of crores of rupees every year.
Congress government reviews the implementation of the schemes to plug loopholes and check leakages.
Check on Rythu Bandhu reveals BRS government had paid out Rs 80,453 crores under Rythu Bandhu
Of this amount, Rs 25,672 crore wasted by paying Rythu Bandhu to land converted into real estate ventures or industrial and commercial purposes, roads, highways, irrigation projects, barren land and even hillock areas.
The government orders an inquiry into Aasara pensions and social welfare pensions.
