HYDERABAD: Yes. Ten thousand crore rupees per annum. On a very conservative basis, that is the quantum of public funds estimated to be flowing into the hands of well-oiled broking network taking advantage of a host of welfare schemes being implemented by the government.
Though the actual figures of leakage is still being computed, officials of the Telangana government have reached a broad consensus that the loot of treasury via various doles -- supply of essential commodities, Aarogyasri, fee reimbursement, housing and pensions -- is indeed humungous.
At the root of the problem is the passport to privileges - the BPL card: meant for the poor but now in the hands of almost every family what with the number of “white cards”, as they are called, counted at 89 lakh as against the total number of 85 lakh households in Telangana. And, then there are over 14 lakh pink cards.
Government officials say at least 30 per cent of the cards, if not more, have no reason to exist: they are either totally bogus, duplicate or in the name of those who have migrated or died long ago. In the fortnight that went by after the Telangana government began a serious review of the “misuse” of welfare schemes, officials of the Civil Supplies department have collected more than two lakh such cards either from the dealers or ineligible people. By the time the exercise is completed, at least 20-25 lakh such cards are likely to be taken out of the sytem.
Officials say the extent of misuse was not so extensive in the past when the white card was meant only to get ration at a cheaper price. But, what turned out to be bane for the government and a boon to middlemen was when this card became the route to avail every other benefit - for well-to-do students to avail themselves of fee reimbursement or a financially sound person to get free treatment at a corporate hospital.
While detailed analysis is still being done, it is being estimated that of the Rs 4,000 crore per annum being spent on fee reimbursement, at least Rs 2,500 crore is a straight loot: as revealed by the fact-finding committee, quite a few colleges either do not exist or have been set up with minimum expenditure lacking basic facilities, just to take advantage of the scheme. The other astonishing aspect that has come out was that a major chunk of the reimbursement was going to those pursuing higher education such as Masters/Doctorate.
When the scheme is reworked, one of the measures being contemplated is to put a cap on the number of students per college who would be eligible for reimbursement. “Government support is surely needed to enable a deserving student acquire basic education. By the time, they reach the level of post-graduation, they are expected to be on their own,” an official reasoned.
Apart from the fact that government money is apparently going to undeserving, the bigger worry that has set in is the quality. It was found that a majority of students were getting enrolled only to avail themselves of fee reimbursement. In other words, non-serious students with hardly any employable skills are thrown into the market leading to a situation where there are a large number of so-called educated youth who are unwilling to do their traditional vocations but are at the same time unsuitable to modern employment. A sure recipe for social disorder.
Similar is the case with Aarogyasri for which a whopping Rs 30,000 crore was estimated to have been spent in five years, a major chunk of it going to private/corporate hospitals. Looking at it differently, at least 10 major hospitals on the same scale as the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) could have been established with the amount spent under Aarogyasri. That government hospitals and PHCs continue to languish without doctors, nurses, equipment and basic medicines is another story.
The weaker section housing is no different. It was found that that the primary leakage is a straight forward loot: there is a list of beneficiaries in a particular village, houses have been shown as built, bills have been raised and payments made. It is just that the beneficiaries and the houses don’t exist. The other method employed was to pass off existing houses as having been built under the programme and the money pocketed by all those who form part of the ring.