Bengal’s new BJP government estimates it can save about ₹25,000 crore in welfare expenses by weeding out ineligible and non-existent beneficiaries and preventing theft.
Sources said the government arrived at that figure after scanning the lists of expenses and beneficiaries, prepared by the previous administration, of several welfare schemes, with the farmer dole being the “most suspect”.
“The initial findings suggest that many ineligible, ghost and non-existent beneficiaries are listed under several schemes. Similarly, large sums were being misappropriated under several schemes,” a senior official said.
“If such loot can be stopped and the lists of beneficiaries cleaned up, the exchequer can save about ₹25,000 crore.”
Signalling his government’s intentions, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari launched an application form for Annapurna Bhandar on Wednesday, saying up to 30 lakh ineligible beneficiaries may have been enrolled under the previous government’s Lakshmir Bhandar.
Sources said the state government would gradually verify the beneficiary lists of all direct-benefit-transfer schemes.
“The previous government spent about ₹75,000 crore a year on its various welfare schemes,” an official said.
“Since the new government has promised enhanced benefits under several schemes, its costs could reach ₹95,000 crore if it does not end pilferage.”
Sources said the Suvendu government would now focus on the beneficiary list under the Krishak Bandhu and old-age pension schemes, whose combined annual bill comes to ₹22,000 crore.
“The most suspicious scheme is the Krishak Bandhu, under which farmers receive a minimum of ₹4,000 a year, with those who have one acre of land receiving ₹10,000 annually,” a senior official said.
“According to the latest agriculture census, Bengal has 72 lakh farmers but under this scheme, 1.1 crore people receive benefits meant for farmers who have farmland.”
Sources said the state government was also looking at the food and supplies department’s expenditures on schemes such as Khadya Sathi and paddy procurement from the farmers.
“The department spends nearly ₹16,000 crore to give cheap grains to about 3 crore people over and above the 6.01 crore who receive subsidised food grains from the Centre under the national Food Security Act,” a senior bureaucrat said.
“Besides, the state spends a handsome amount procuring paddy directly from the farmers. There are questions whether the money reaches the targeted beneficiaries. All this needs to be scanned.”
Sources said the new government wanted to ensure that after spending on social welfare, it had enough money in hand to build infrastructure.
The state finance department has already been asked to allot more funds to capital expenditure in the Suvendu government’s first budget.
One of the new government’s larger goals is to attract big investments, which it cannot do without developing infrastructure. This makes it important to restrict the welfare expenditure, finance department sources said.
“But the government does not want to deprive genuine beneficiaries. It’s possible to cut down on expenditure by cleaning the beneficiarylists and stopping theft,” an official said.
“This will be proved when the final list of beneficiaries under the Annapurna Yojana is published afterthree months.”
The government has said that those deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR would not be enrolled for Annapurna Bhandar unless they have appealed before the tribunals or come under the ambit of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which excludes Muslims.