Goa govt recovers Rs 39 crore from ineligible social security scheme beneficiaries

Panaji: The directorate of social welfare that has been weeding out ineligible Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) beneficiaries for over a year has deleted the names of 14,000 beneficiaries, including 2,000 of those who are running full-fledged businesses, and has recovered Rs 39 crore from them.“The money was being deposited in beneficiaries’ accounts even after their death. Some passed away in 2011 and 2014, yet the monthly DSSS money was being credited to their accounts,” director of social welfare Ajit Panchwadkar told TOI.“It was a huge exercise to first identify those who had died and then to write to banks to return the money,” he said.Govt sent out notices to banks in around 5,000 cases for the recovery of money.The directorate is continuously working to plug loopholes and to clean up the beneficiary list of the scheme that warrants close monitoring because it is a recurring scheme.It began with beneficiaries in the 80+ age category and recently covered the 75-80 age category. DSSS beneficiaries have been brought down to 1.3 lakh, and the monthly burden on the exchequer reduced from Rs 29 crore to Rs 25 crore. Last year, govt capped the number of beneficiaries at 1.4 lakh.“We have been relieved of a liability of Rs 3 crore per month and have made space for 10,000 new, deserving beneficiaries,” Panchwadkar said.Govt, at the same time, also began disbursing financial aid under the amended scheme with increased pension for widows.The directorate, he said, is in the process of integrating its data with the records of births and deaths so that the department can be updated in the case of the death of a beneficiary. Govt has also started giving instructions to banks not to allow withdrawals if the scheme amount is left untouched for six months.“We have asked banks to ask beneficiaries to submit a letter with genuine reasons as to why the money has not been withdrawn,” Panchwadkar said. “Otherwise, we will presume the person is financially sound and no longer requires financial assistance. This is assuming there was no medical emergency in the family.”