A Rs 400-crore scandal has hit the Maharashtra government after it was confirmed that the Special Assistance Department (SAD) sanctioned financial aid to 3.5 lakh bogus beneficiaries under schemes meant for landless labourers, destitutes and old people.The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has asked the Democratic Front government to conduct a high-level probe into the scam, following the detection of irregularities under the Sanjay Gandhi Scheme for destitutes, the Indira Gandhi Scheme for women, landless labourers and National Scheme of Pension for aged persons in Nandurbar district.On the basis of a report submitted by the Nandurbar Collector, a criminal case was filed in the local police station against 650 persons, including Minister of State for General Administration Vijay Kumar Gavit. Gavit has denied the charge, saying the names of beneficiaries were submitted before the committee after scrutiny. Simultaneously, the government set up six separate committees for each revenue zone headed by a divisional commissioner. In their report, all divisional commissioners confirmed rampant irregularities.As per the report, 14,432 bogus beneficiaries were detected in Konkan division, 9,990 in Pune, 2,56,371 in Aurangabad, 3,846 in Nashik, 31,299 in Amravati and 29,340 in Nagpur division. Significantly, the largest number of bogus beneficiaries, 35,724, were detected in Latur, the hometown of former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, followed by 20,642 in Nanded, the hometown of Transport Minister Ashok Chavan.A survey by revenue officials found that besides people in private service or those who have adequate monthly income, financial aid was released in the names of even those who are no longer alive. Of the 3.5 lakh bogus beneficiaries, more than 9,000 were dead. It appears the government has released at least Rs 400 crore to 3.5 lakh bogus beneficiaries since 1999. A beneficiary under the Sanjay Gandhi and Indira Gandhi schemes receives Rs 250 per month, while under the scheme for old persons receives Rs 350. In view of the findings, the government is facing a piquant situation since beneficiaries are selected by a high-level committee headed by a local MLA. The department has already launched criminal proceedings against Nandurbar MLA Vijaykumar Gavit, who is also a Minister, but it is yet to be seen if it will take similar action in all the revenue divisions. In that event, the department will have to file criminal cases against a record number of 200 MLAs.The issue was also raised in the Upper House by BJP members Pandurang Phundkar and Nitin Gadkari.
