PORVORIM: Laadlis of Goa are waiting for Rs 59 crore due to them from a scheme that is all about them and the Griha Aadhar beneficiaries
The Opposition members on Thursday demanded that the government should release doles of Rs 9.5 crore of Griha Aadhar and Rs 59 crore of Laadli Laxmi to beneficiaries and to sanction the long pending applications.
Speaking during the ongoing Assembly session, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao said that these monies were pending for the last five years, while, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said that 167 applications for Griha Aadhar and 239 application for Laadli Laxmi from his constituency were pending since 2019. Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas also told the House that 638 applications for Griha Aadhar scheme by applicants from his constituency were pending for last years.
Women and Child Development Minister Vishwajit Rane assured members that the government will clear applications pending for last five years before the conclusion of the ongoing session.
Sardesai said that 3,932 applications of Ladli laxmi beneficiaries were pending for non-availability of funds. How can there be funds crunch when the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was claiming surplus budget? Why are these applications pending when there is revenue surplus?
Rane assured the Members that all pending applications related to schemes such as Griha Aadhar and Laadli Laxmi will be placed before the Committee constituted to decide on such applications while the House is in session i.e. before August 7.
Rane said efforts will be made to clear all the pending applications through measures such as one-time relaxation, in consultation with the Chief Minister.
The Minister was replying to a starred question tabled by Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar in this regards related to his constituency. Rane assured Amonkar that the government will clear applications by granting one-time relaxation by lifting the capping.
Amonkar said that benefits to beneficiaries were pending for past five years while, one application is pending for almost 12 years. He requested the Minister to clear the pending applications in a time-bound manner.
WCD dept declares living Griha Aadhar beneficiary as dead
PORVORIM: In a shocking incident, a woman from Mormugao constituency was declared dead by the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) and her Griha Aadhar allowance was stopped after three months due to an erroneous survey. Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar raised this issue during question hour in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. He said that he came across an application from his constituency where a woman was sanctioned Griha Aadhar scheme in September 2023. She was asked to report to the ICDS office at Vasco for verification. After that she received doles for three months and stopped in January 2024. When she did not receive the money, she enquired with the Goa Electronics Limited (GEL) and the Women and Child Development office and she was shocked to know that a remark was put on her application that the beneficiary expired.
Later, the department asked her to write an application for resumption of benefit along with copies of income certificate, Aadhar Card, bank account and life certificate. The beneficiary later submitted an application for resumption of Griha Aadhar scheme but till date allowances are not released to her, Amonkar said adding that it was a genuine case.
Rane assured him that the government will convene a meeting and rectify the error. He said that there could have been error during survey by GEL and agreed to conduct survey along with local panchayat members to rectify such errors. He assured the House that the government will rectify such errors if brought to his notice.