CHAPTER IV EXISTING SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES

Transcription

1 CHAPTER IV EXISTING SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES 4.1 INTRODUCTION National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is a welfare programme being implemented in rural areas as well as urban areas and administered by the Ministry of Rural Development. The NSAP represents a significant step towards the fulfilment of the Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Article 41 of Constitution of India which enjoin up on the state to provide public assistance to its citizen in case of employment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want within its economic means. Government of Karnataka is one among the states which came forward to protect the old age people from further destitution since Similarly the physically handicapped people are given pension since 1977 and in 1984 destitute widow pension was introduced. All the three social assistance schemes have been implemented by the Revenue department through the District Administration. Directly Taluk Office is fully responsible for the entire processing of application and issue of orders and also ensure payment of pension. The Treasury transfers the amount to post offices and post man delivers the OAP, DWP and PHP to the beneficiaries. In order to implement the social security schemes in an effective manner a separate Directorate of Social Security and Pension was set up by the state Government in The main objective of the new set up is to coordinate with departments implementing similar social security programmes and monitor for timely action for effective implementation of the programmes. The following Social Security Schemes and pension programmes are monitored by the Directorate. 1. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension 2. Destitute Widow Pension 59

2 3. Physically Handicapped Pension 4. Annapurna 5. Sandhya Suraksha Yojane 6. Adarsha Vivaha Yojana 7. National family benefit Scheme 8. Anthya Samskara Assistance Scheme 9. Aam Aadmi Bima (Janasri) Scheme For the purpose of the instant study OAP, DWP and PHP under the monthly pension schemes and one time lump-sum assistance scheme National Family Benefit Scheme have been chosen. The details of the above schemes are described below: Old Age Pension Scheme (OAP): The existing Old Age Pension Scheme Guidelines were modified in 2007 by Central Government and continued to implement as Indira Gandhi National Old Age Programme. The eligibility Criteria of Beneficiaries a. For the purpose of claiming assistance the beneficiaries shall be 65 years of age and above. b. The applicant shall belong to household of BPL category and shall score 26 points or less in 13 determining the socio-economic and educational status of the house hold as identified by the Rural Development Ministry Government of India c. The beneficiary shall not be a recipient of any kind of similar pensions from Government on any private source. d. The monthly pension is ` 400,of which Government of India meets ` 200 and it is matched by the State Government. e. The beneficiaries can avail the benefit if they are not under the care of anybody. f. For proof of age, Birth Certificate, Medical Certificate or age mentioned in EPIC issued by Election Commission of India. 60

3 Destitute Widow Pension Scheme The scheme is operationalised since 1984 in Karnataka State whereas Central Government has recently introduced it under Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension (IGNWPS). Eligibility Criteria a) A destitute widow who is 18 years of age or above. b) A destitute widow is whose husband is not alive, or husband is legally declared as death and who is not supported by her relatives and her income does not exceed ` 6000 per annum. Annual income certificate is required. c) The applicant or her husband shall be a resident for three consecutive years in Karnataka before his death. A residential certificate is required. d) The pension amount is ` 400 per month which includes ` 200 of central Government a matching amount of ` 200 from the state Government. e) The pension will be paid till her death or until she gets remarried or earns more than ` 6000 annual income through employment. f) The proof of age is decided as per the birth certificate, Medical Certificate or EPIC issued by election Commission of India. g) Family Tree Certificate. Physically Handicapped Pension (PHP) The shcmee is in operation since 1977 in Karnataka State, the Central Government has rolled out Indira Gandhi National Disabled Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) recently. Eligibility Criteria a) The pension is given to the blind, low vision, mentally retarded, hearing impaired, mentally ill, locomotor disability and Leprosy cured persons. b) The applicant should be not below of disability 40%. The medical authorised to issue as per clause (+) of section 2 of the PWD Act. 61

4 c) The pension amount is ` 400 per month of which the Central Government and State Government Share ` 200 each. d) The improved PHP scheme since 2008 provides ` 1000 per month for persons with have of severe disability of 75% or more as per clause (4) of section 56 of PWD Act certified by competent medical authority. Sandhya Suraksha Yojana This is a parallel scheme with liberal criteria compared to the existing OAP of the state and IGNOAPS of Central Government. The persons of 65 years of age or more who are in economic distress are granted ` 400 per month since Eligibility Criteria a) Persons belonging to following categories are eligible: Small farmers, marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, weavers and fisherman. But the building and other construction workers coming under Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services Act, 1996 are not eligible. b) Their total income of husband and wife should exceed ` per annum. c) Their cumulative value of deposit should not exceed ` d) They should not be receiving any Government or private pension. e) Of the sons are not taking care of the parents. f) The proof of age is determined on the basis of the medical certificate issued by the competent medical authority or EPIC issued by the election Commission of India. g) An affidavit h) Family Tree Certificate National Family Benefit Scheme Government of India under the NFBS a BPL household is entitled to lump sum amount of money on the death of primary breadwinner aged between 18 and 64 years. The 62

5 amount of assistance is ` 10,000. The Anthya Samskara Scheme of the State provides ` 1000 at the time of death of the breadwinner for the prupose of cremation. The National Assistance Programme was launched in 1995 by the Central Government with an aim to ensure minimum national standard of living through social assistance, to the most vulnerable sections of society. While NSAP has made significant progress in providing financial assistance to the most vulnerable sections of society. It is felt that still there is need to improve various aspects of the programme to make them more efficient and better targeted. The scope of NSAP has been expanding since both in terms of physical coverage and the budget allocation. The Budget of NSAP has increased nearly five times from ` 1100 crores in to ` 5762 crores during the current financial year. The physical coverage under the scheme is established to reach 230 lakh from 87 lakh in For the existing number of beneficiaries in Karnataka, ` 1800 crores is spent out of which Government of India is spending ` 350 crore and Karnataka Government spends ` 1450 annually towards the social security schemes. Central assistance of ` 200 is provided to states and stated have been urged to contribute at least ` 200 from state funds. The states were also requested to identify the beneficiaries from BPL list The central Government has approved number of beneficiaries to be given the assistance. Presently some states have reported more number of beneficiaries than number of beneficiaries approved by the Ministry of Rural Development. For the excess number of beneficiaries approval of Ministry of finance is required. In Karnataka State OAP, DWP, PHP and lately SSY are popular schemes which implemented since long. The schemes of both State and Centre are complementary to each other as far as the contingency and risk is concerned. The share of pension amount from each of them is ` 200. But the SSY is fully borne by the State. At present in Karnataka there is no presence of 63

6 IGNOAPS, IGNWPS and IGNDPS for the obvious reasons of stringent criteria of the schemes shown in the table 4.1. Table 4.1: Differences of criteria State Government Schemes OAP a) Annual Income certificate not exceeding ` 6000 b) 65 years (Non GAP is replaced by IGNOAPS) DWP a) 18 years and above c) Annual income not exceeding ` 6000 and not under the care of relatives c) Till death, remarriage or income above ` 6000 PHP a) No age restriction b) Annual income of the house hold not exceeding ` 6000 c) Disability 40% and above (` 400) d) Disability of 75 % and above for monthly ` 1000 Central Government Schemes IGNOAPS a. Identify out of BPL list 2002 of Rural Development Department b. 65 years and above (26 score or below out of 13 points parameter) IGNWPS a. Age group of years b. Widow living in BPL household c. Not extended beyond 64 years IGNDPS a) From the age of years b) Belonging to BPL household c) Disability 80% and above d) ` 400 monthly pension Procedure of implementation Hitherto, applications were received in Taluk office. The Tahsildar in turn sent the papers down to be enquired and reported by the field officials. The Revenue Inspector on receipt of papers forwarded by Tahsildar would send to the concerned Village Accountant to put up the facts of income, age, domicile, death certificate in case of widow pension and obtain medical certificate for severity of disability for PHP cases. The Revenue inspector would hold Mahazar a summary enquiry in the village in the presence of 5 villagers. The RI sends the papers to Tahsildar through the Deputy Tahsildar. The papers are again processed in the office and put up for orders of Tahsildar. The orders of sanction are sent through the RI and VA to be distributed to the beneficiaries and simultaneously an order is sent to treasury to effect payment to the beneficiaries. It is left to the Treasury to send pension to beneficiaries through post offices in the form of Money Orders. In case of rejection of application no further action is taken. 64

7 FLOW CHART OF IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEMES Ministry of Rural Development Government of India (Nodal Ministry) Finance Ministry Government of India ACA Funds Revenue Department Government of Karnataka Finance Department Government of Karnataka Deputy Commissioner (Chamarajanagar District) State Treasury Assistant commissioner (Kollegal sub-division) Tahsildar (taluk level) (Back Office & Nemmadi Kendra) Sanction order Sub-Treasury Sub-Post Office Branch Post Office Processed applications Order/Certificates Application of and report beneficiaries is generated in Deputy Tahsildar Nemmadi Kendra Postman/ (hobli level) one operator Mail Deliverer (hobli level) make payment Revenue inspector Application for verification Village Accountant OAP, DWP, PHP, Beneficiaries Beneficiaries receive orders/certificates electronically generated Recent Changes in implementation Social Security Scheme Government of Karnataka has advanced in taking service to village level through decentralisation of powers and application of IT-enabled approach. The power to sanction the social security schemes, OAP, DWP, PHP and SSY is delegated to Deputy Tahsildar in the Nada Kacheri located in hobli headquarters which covers a cluster of villages. In order to reduce the hardship and make the process transparent, e-governance initiative is extended to 65

8 the hobli headquarters by setting up of Rural Tele centres to register applications and issue the orders speedily to social security applicants. Since 2006 in the entire state the social security schemes are processed through Nemmadi Kendras. Nemmadi Project (Tele Centre) Government of Karnataka vision for the Nemmadi Tele Centre Project is that, IT enabled government services should be accessible to the common man in village, through efficient transparent, reliable and affordable means. Government of Karnataka has set up, through Public Private Partnership model (PPP), a network of 800 Tele centres at hobli level to deliver G2C and B2C services. Objectives of the project To create efficient and smart virtual offices of the state Government at the village level. To provide copies of land records and 38 other citizen centric services of Revenue Department. To enhance the accountability, transparency and responsiveness to citizens. Salient features of Nemmadi Project Single widow for all government services at the village level. No need for any written application to be submitted for any service. Manual system to be stopped altogether. Uniform service charge of ` 15 for every service. Expected Outcome Decentralisation of delivery of needs. To provide government departments and agencies means of efficient and cost effective methods of service delivery to citizens. Freeing the departments from routine operations and increase the productivity of administrative machinery. 66

9 Provide a single widow for request and delivery of e-governance services to the citizens. Cost effective, speedy and effective interface between the Government and citizens. Greater transparency, objectivity and accountability in delivery of government services. Employment of all the sections of society by facilitating them to gain knowledge about their rights and privileges. Village level bureaucracy would be able to use this facility for transaction of data to district and state headquarters. Creation of a citizen s database on an incremental basis. Capacity building, literacy and employment of rural educated youth by helping them to acquire proficiency in computers Nemmadi Tele centres at hobli level Village Tele centres setup at hobli level are the primary channels for accepting citizen requests and delivery of the certificates to the citizens. Subsequent to receiving the electronic registration by the operator, the request is processed by appropriate authority for verification and validation. On receiving the comments of such appropriate authority, the final certificate or order is generated which are digitally signed. The certificate or order can now be downloaded at the village Tele centre and issued to the applicant. Various Services offered under Nemmadi Project The twelve services related to social security pensions are listed below out of 40 services rendered in the Tele centre: They are, Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Caste Certificate, Residence Certificate, Ration Card, Income Certificate, Widow Certificate, Living Certificate, Surviving Family Member Certificate, Old Age Pension, Widow Pension, Physically Handicapped Pension. There are 16 Nemmadi Kendras including five back offices at Taluk offices, rolled out in 2006 in Chamarajanagar District. Among them eight of them were selected to evaluate 67

10 the working system in the instant study. They are Terakananmbi and Hangala in Gundlupet Taluk, Chamarajanagar and Haradanahalli Chamarajanagar Taluk, Hanur, Lokkanahalli and Ramapura in Kollegal Taluk and Yelandur in Yelandur Taluk. Each centre is expected to have two computers, and telephone, internet with web camera, printer, scanner and necessary accessories. A single room accommodation with few chairs are provided and manned by computer operators. But generally only one operator is appointed on a consolidated salary of ` 3000 per month by the private agency. Monitoring the Nemmadi Kendra Performance The functioning of Nemmadi Kendra can be constantly monitored by the state, the District and Taluk Administration. Revenue authorities can constantly review and supervise the progress through online reports, transaction reports, operator attendance reports, pendency reports. The pendency of Nemmadi Kendra requests are available with authorities like Tahsildar in Taluk Office and Back-office Operator and all Tele Centre Operator, etc. The data is uploaded automatically to district and State from where the authorities can supervise the working of Taluk officials and Nammadi operators. The pendency reports can be used for questioning the officials if there are any undue delay in processing certain requests. In this project programme of the Tele Centres monitoring by the district and state headquarters are crucial. Verification and recommendation for sanction or issue of certificates by the concerned authorities in the field play an important role in the timely service. Delivery of Pension The present delivery mechanism has been perceived to be inefficient due to high costs to the revenue department on account of ` 40 crores of commission paid to the postal department, stationary, etc, to print money orders. The delays in Treasury to transfer the fund to post offices and Banks is matter of concern. Consequently, the worrying part is, the delay in payment to beneficiaries in time every month. Hence Government of Karnataka has come 68

11 out with a pilot programme to make payments through the Business Correspondents in certain districts. This is to streamline door to door payments to the beneficiaries in a more transparent manner than the existing payment through postman. The following chart illustrates delivery of pension. FLOW CHART OF NSAP FUNDS Ministry of Finance, Government of India Additional Central Assistance Finance Department, Government of Karnataka State Huzur Treasury District Treasury Bank Taluk Treasury Sub Post Office (Business Correspondent pays as per Smart Card under Pilot Project) Account Holders drawing pension Branch Post Office Branch Post Master/ Mail Deliverer Beneficiaries receive pension in their locality 69

12 Issues in identification and coverage At the time of inception of the scheme in 2007, IGNOAPS was estimated to cover 157 lakh beneficiaries. The states were requested to identify the beneficiaries from BPL list of 2002 which is available with the Department of Rural Development. At present, coverage under IGNOAPS has reached 173 lakhs in the country. The coverage reported by Government of Karnataka under IGNOAPS vis-à-vis approved number. Table 4.2: Estimated approved number and coverage of beneficiaries under Central Government State Estimated no beneficiaries and or IGNOAPS as per poverty estimates Estimated no of persons above 65 years as per BPL List 2002 No of beneficiaries approved by Rural Development ministry in the state Coverage under IGNOAPS during Karnataka State and District Estimated number under IGNWPS Reported under IGNWPS Estimated number under IGNDPS Reported under IGNDPS Estimated number under NFBS Reported under NFBS Karnataka Source: Agenda Notes on Performance Review Committee Meeting (2009), Department of Rural Development, Government of India. Table 4.3: Number and coverage under Social Assistance Schemes Chamarajanagar District Taluk wise Scheme Beneficiaries (Treasury Data) Taluk Name DWP OAP PHP SSY Total Chamarajanagar Gundlupet Kollegal Yelandur Total Source: Directorate of Social Security and Pension, Government of Karnataka. Stringent Criteria One of the primary reasons cited for low coverage under IGNDPS was nonavailability of BPL persons with 80% disability and the factors attributed to this was nonavailability of medical certificate to ascertain the percentage of disability. The Government of 70

13 India has in its guidelines provided to hold Block level medical camps to issue certificates to the disabled population. There is problem of mismatch existing with IGNWPS where the age eligible is years, whereas it is 18 years and above in Karnataka like in many states. When people can get the DWP of the state from 18 years, people should not be waiting upto 40 years to claim IGNWPS of Government of India. 4.2 METHOD OF DISBURSEMENT The Department of Financial Services has made arrangements with all the commercial Banks to open no frill accounts for beneficiaries of the pension schemes as per the instruction of Reserve Bank of India. Similarly Department of Economic Affairs has permitted post offices to open zero balance accounts for the beneficiaries of pension schemes under NSAP as in NREGS beneficiaries. Though all states are aware of both these decision, it has been observed that many states are reluctant to shift from the present mode of disbursement followed by them. There are reports of late disbursement. A delay in transfer of the ACA funds from state finance department to the implementing department was observed in many states. This results in the beneficiary not receiving the pension in time. Though, pension, by default is to be a monthly payment, in many states are not in a position to do so. The ACA funds are unfailingly released by the Government of India within the first fortnight of every quarter. The states could advance the necessary funds in advance so as to ensure a monthly payment, which subsequently could be recovered from the ACA released by Government of India. The Hon ble Supreme Court has also issued necessary directives to effect that pension is to be paid by seventh of every month. Grievances on under-payment of pension are being received from various sources. This happens where the payment is made through Money Orders/Cash. To avoid inconveniences to the beneficiaries, it was impressed upon the states to switch over to the 71

14 system of providing a bank/post office savings account. Where there are problems for the beneficiaries to access the bank etc, the Business Correspondent method has been suggested. Table 4.4: Number of beneficiaries receiving pension through various modes in Chamarajanagar District Bank/Post Office Account detail Scheme Through Bank account Through Money order Total number of beneficiaries OAP DWP PHP SSY Total Source: Revenue Department, Government of Karnataka as on October Utilisation of funds Analysis of funds released to the states and utilisation made during the year in the following Table 4.5. Karnataka is also among 21 states which has utilised less than 50% of the funds. There is not one state which has utilised more than 80% of funds. Certain states have a substantially large amount of unspent balance at the end of each financial year which is being accumulated and carved forward to the next year. Table 4.5: Statement of funds (in lakhs) Total O.B. as on Total Release Total Available Funds Expenditure total Expenditure % Reporting Month July, 2010 Monitoring operationalisation of NSAP-MIS In order to have transparency in disbursement of pension to the eligible persons, the states should upload the data for public domain. The data gives the details of the beneficiaries village wise. Karnataka has its own software and interface is required to be prepared. As regards Chamarajanagar District the data has been updated and uploaded after due physical verification process. The process is with biometric finger prints under way in two taluks in the district. The final picture will emerge only after the smart cards are isused for payment. 72

15 Table 4.6: Data base of Beneficiaries uploaded on NSAP website IGNOAPS IGNDPS IGNWPS State and District Reported Available on website Data Gap Reported Available on website Data Gap Reported Available on website Data Gap Karnataka Source: Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India (2009). Table 4.7: Total beneficiaries physical progress of Social Security Programmes in Karnataka State Sl.No. District OAP DWP PHP SSY Total 1 Bagalkot Bangalore Urban Bangalore (rural) Belgaum Bellary Bidar Bijapur Chamarajanagar Chickmagalur Chickballapur Chitradurga Davanagere Dharwad Gadag Gulbarga Hassan Haveri Karwar Kolar Koppal Madikeri Mandya Mangalore Mysore Raichur Ramanagara himoga Tumkur Udupi Yadgir Total Source: Directorate of Social Security and Pensions,Government of Karnataka,October

16 4.3 NEW INITIATIVES STRENGTHENING MONITORING AND TRANSPARENCY Government of India has issued instructions to States after having increased scope and budget of NSAP call for qualitative monitoring of schemes under NSAP for effective implementation of programme. Government of Karnataka the scheme guidelines require the village accountant to report annually 100% beneficiaries and Revenue Inspector and Tahsildars are also expected to verify and certify. The VAS report is the living certificate to the beneficiaries. The new initiatives undertaken are: Annual Verification and Social Audit Every year annual verification must be completed by the end of the first quarter of each financial year. This is to enhance transparency and to strengthen monitoring of the NSAP Schemes. As a part of social audit issues relating to process of application sanctions of pensions and disbursements need to be discussed in Grama Sabha. However the Government of India has not received response from any state in this regard. As regards Chamarajanagar district first time a thorough physical verification is completed and the data base is created. Table 4.8: Verification statement of OAP, DWP and PHP in Chamarajanagar district Taluk As on No. of sanctioned cases As on No. of verified beneficiaries Left the village No. of ineligible cases after verification Death cases Found ineligible Transfer cases Other reason Total ineligible cases Old Age Pension Destitute Widow Pension Physical Handica pped Pension Chamarajanagar ** ** ** 113 Gundlupet ** ** 7725 Kollegal ** ** ** 37 Yelandur Total Chamarajanagar ** ** ** 115 Gundlupet Kollegal ** * ** 10 Yelandur Total Chamarajanagar ** ** ** 304 Gundlupet Kollegal ** ** ** 23 Yelandur Total Grand Total

17 Though the implementation of Social Security Schemes fall in line with the Government of India, the State Government has modified the guidelines according to the ability and resources of the State. But the revenue department is implementing right from the inception of the Old Age Pension Scheme in Karnataka, there are guidelines for providing the benefits along with specific instructions to conduct verification of beneficiaries among the field officials. Recently, the State Government has made it is possible for operationalisation of the MIS software and physical verification in certain districts including Chamarajanagar district. Lately the smart cards are introduced as a pilot programme in Yelandur taluk. Table 4.9: Statement showing number of beneficiaries qualified for Smart Card Chamarajanagar Gundlupet Kollegal Yelandur Total Chamarajanagar district is pilot project of introduction delivery of pensions through smart card application through business correspondent. The district is one of the most backward districts in the state, accordingly, the feed back will have much value to replicate the same to other districts Monitoring issues identified by Central Government Strengthening of district / block level infrastructure Annual verification of beneficiaries Conduct of social audit Creation of data base of beneficiaries Review of implementation by block / Zilla Panchayats Operationalisation of the MIS software. Operation manual (Compilation) of the various schemes. These are some of the latest thoughts which are yet to be fully implemented by all the states though Karnataka has made considerable progress in this direction. 75