AGENCIES|PANAJI

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report for 2017 has pointed out deficiencies in the Goa government’s implementation of the Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS), the Grih Aadhar Scheme and the Laadli Laxmi Scheme.

The report was tabled in the state Legislative Assembly today and it said that wrongful inclusion of beneficiaries in these schemes had resulted in losses to the state Exchequer.

The Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) provides financial assistance to senior citizens and widows, the Grih Aadhar Scheme caters to unemployed housewives while the Laadli Laxmi Scheme provides one-time financial benefit to girls, when they attain 18 years of age, for purposes like marriage, business or education.

The CAG report informed that 3.36 lakh beneficiaries had received financial assistance of Rs 2,590 crore during the financial year 2016-17.

It said that the three schemes had deficiencies like inadequate scrutiny of applications by departments, flaws in the software managing the schemes and failure to conduct regular survey of people the scheme targets.

“Financial assistance was given under the DSSS and the Grih Aadhar scheme to beneficiaries who did not meet the eligibility criteria of age and income,” the CAG report stated.

“Though annual family income was the vital criterion for identification of beneficiaries under DSSS and Griha Aadhar scheme, the process of verification of income by the implementing departments was weak, leading to wrongful inclusion of beneficiaries,” the report pointed out.

It added that some beneficiaries availed financial assistance from other schemes as well and some received benefits from the same scheme multiple times.