Fund shortage hits scheme for orphan kids in Barmer dist

BARMER: Fund crunch has hit payments under a welfare scheme for orphaned children and those whose parents serve life imprisonment or live with HIV.

Under the scheme--Palanhaar Yojna – started by the state social justice and welfare department in 2004, children under five years get ₹500 per month and those between 5 and 18 years get ₹1000.

In Barmer district, 70% applicants have not got payments since June last year and the rest 30% since October, officials said.

“We have urged the state government to release ₹1 crore for payment to all the applicants,” said Surendra Kumar Puniya, assistant director of the social welfare department in Barmer.

Officials said 3,800 children from 2,275 families in Barmer got ₹2.70 crore in 2015-16, 3,205 children from 2,340 families received ₹2.80 crore in 2014-15, and 2,337 kids from 1,884 families received ₹1.94 crore in 2013-14.

The department released payment to 2,924 registered beneficiaries last year.

In 2015, the state government directed the department to maintain online data about the beneficiaries. Officials were also told to go for physical verification, such as checking bank accounts, death certificates, and records on beneficiary children’s admission to aanganwadis or schools.

The department could verify 2,375 beneficiaries, including 465 from the scheduled castes and 127 from the scheduled tribes.

As many as 549 unknown beneficiaries were getting payment for the past many years, officials said.

Puniya said, “As soon as we get the allotment from the government, beneficiaries will be given the pending amounts.”

Laxman Badera, a social activist, said, “Needy children have failed to get their payments, sometime in the name of lack of budget and sometime in the name of paper formalities.

“The scheme is proving to be meaningless and the state government should take the matter more seriously to ensure needy children are benefited.”

IN 2015, THE STATE GOVERNMENT DIRECTED THE DEPARTMENT TO MAINTAIN ONLINE DATA ABOUT THE BENEFICIARIES