|
Montek says only 16 paise of
every rupee reach poor
 NEW
DELHI: Twenty-five years after Rajiv Gandhi said that for every
rupee sent to the common man, only 17 paise reached him, the debate
is back on what constitutes a huge indictment of the delivery system
in welfare schemes.
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh told reporters in Mumbai on Sunday that leakage of
funds was not as big as mentioned by Rajiv Gandhi. “Leakage of funds
earmarked for development does exist but I don’t admit these
leakages are as big as was mentioned by Rajivji,” he said. By
coincidence, a day later, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek
Singh Ahluwalia told a seminar that the former PM was correct about
the extent of leakage.
He said a Plan
panel study on PDS recently found that only 16 paise out of a rupee
was reaching the targeted poor, as he went on to suggest that 1% of
every scheme money be earmarked for monitoring and evaluation.
While their
opinion on the magnitude of pilferage may differ, the top policy duo
has cranked open a debate at the core of the campaign for ‘aam
aadmi’. When Rajiv Gandhi spoke during a visit to Kalahandi in 1985,
it was an indictment of the system in the prereforms era which
triggered a controversy.
Many years
later, while the debate seems as valid, Congress leaders say the
concern has been heightened by heavy inflow of funds in welfare
schemes like NREGA, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and the proposed food
security Act. A leader said the need to address the leakages is
serious for fighting poverty as much as it is to tackle naxalism.
The naxalites
have used the lack of development to wean away weaker sections
towards rebellion. The efforts to address the situation have
started. While RTI and ‘‘social audits’’ in welfare schemes are
expected to help plug the leaks, Centre is thinking of using the
proposed UID numbers and biometrics identification to cut the fraud
in targeted schemes.
That the debate
is once again coming from the Congress stable is significant. It was
Rahul Gandhi, during a rally in Jhansi, who recalled his father’s
statement, only to add that the situation had worsened since.
14
October 2009
|
Read Also