59

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 1965. 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 2007. 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

60

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.

61

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.

62

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 2008.

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 ` 20000 per annum.

c) Their cumulative value of deposit should not exceed ` 10000.

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

63

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 2006-07 both in terms of physical

coverage and the budget allocation. The Budget of NSAP has increased nearly five times

from ` 1100 crores in 2005-06 to ` 5762 crores during the current financial year. The physical

coverage under the scheme is established to reach 230 lakh from 87 lakh in 2006-07. 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 2002. 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

64

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 Central Government Schemes

OAP a) Annual Income certificate not

exceeding ` 6000 b) 65 years (Non GAP is replaced by

IGNOAPS)

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) 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

IGNWPS a. Age group of 40-64 years b. Widow living in BPL household c. Not extended beyond 64 years

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

IGNDPS a) From the age of 18-64 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.

65

OAP, DWP, PHP, Beneficiaries

Tahsildar (taluk level) (Back Office & Nemmadi Kendra)

FLOW CHART OF IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEMES

Ministry of Rural Development Finance Ministry Government of India Government of India (Nodal Ministry) ACA Funds

Revenue Department Finance Department Government of Karnataka Government of Karnataka

Deputy Commissioner State Treasury (Chamarajanagar District)

Assistant commissioner Sub-Treasury (Kollegal sub-division)

Sanction order

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

Beneficiaries

Village Accountant 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

66

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.

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• 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

68

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

69

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

Branch Post Office Account Holders

drawing pension (Business Correspondent pays as per

Smart Card under Pilot Project) Branch Post Master/

Mail Deliverer

Beneficiaries receive

pension in their locality

70

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 2004-03

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 2010-11

Karnataka 765500 733777 811726 804794

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 295476 325000 62251 90000 20797 22286 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 9456 17374 3803 1153 31786 Gundlupet 7309 10090 2541 2183 22123 Kollegal 8697 14162 5077 1370 29306 Yelandur 2586 3603 1573 1784 9546

Total 28048 45229 12994 6490 92761 Source: Directorate of Social Security and Pension, Government of Karnataka. Stringent Criteria

One of the primary reasons cited for low coverage under IGNDPS was non-

availability of BPL persons with 80% disability and the factors attributed to this was non-

availability of medical certificate to ascertain the percentage of disability. The Government of

71

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

40-64 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

72

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 4625 40433 45058 DWP 4640 23803 28443 PHP 2622 10662 13284 SSY 6583 6583 Total 18470 74898 92761

Source: Revenue Department, Government of Karnataka as on October 2010. Utilisation of funds

Analysis of funds released to the states and utilisation made during the year

2010-2011 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 01-04-2010

Total ReleaseTotal

Available Funds

Expenditure total

Expenditure %

ReportingMonth

2590.14 22485.00 25075.14 10166.45 40.54 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.

73

Table 4.6: Data base of Beneficiaries uploaded on NSAP website

IGNOAPS IGNDPS IGNWPS

State and District

Rep

orte

d

Ava

ilabl

e on

web

site

Dat

a G

ap

Rep

orte

d

Ava

ilabl

e on

web

site

Dat

a G

ap

Rep

orte

d

Ava

ilabl

e on

web

site

Dat

a G

ap

Karnataka 804794 1017320 0 90000 0 62251 325000 58110 237366Source: 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 12221 36630 24860 56534 130245 2 Bangalore Urban 45588 63646 29431 71767 210432 3 Bangalore (rural) 9199 9356 3618 14237 36410 4 Belgaum 66818 72122 61577 115619 316136 5 Bellary 31384 43928 24100 42957 142369 6 Bidar 20906 27478 22177 66241 136802 7 Bijapur 57995 45585 41657 55781 201018 8 Chamarajanagar 34218 24596 11957 14806 85577 9 Chickmagalur 6699 18288 10942 24624 60553 10 Chickballapur 15035 24356 13246 29701 82338 11 Chitradurga 9456 25968 23628 36944 95996 12 Davanagere 11614 38724 23864 62869 137071 13 Dharwad 17139 36968 22015 38553 114675 14 Gadag 27001 24476 19870 23171 94518 15 Gulbarga 57609 37883 30396 42443 168331 16 Hassan 55516 47510 21445 29787 154258 17 Haveri 10378 44951 29942 54021 139292 18 Karwar 4804 16616 10177 17851 49448 19 Kolar 27223 24976 12036 30815 95050 20 Koppal 16482 24729 19078 41597 101886 21 Madikeri 3392 9734 4186 10911 28223 22 Mandya 48012 71306 30423 54689 204430 23 Mangalore 6557 25904 14423 19164 66048 24 Mysore 45733 61021 30904 56006 193664 25 Raichur 26204 33081 15037 24798 99120 26 Ramanagara 36186 34816 15908 36102 123012 27 5himoga 8278 27256 18766 34088 88388 28 Tumkur 26536 47690 39428 74771 188425 29 Udupi 2253 21699 10440 32738 67130 30 Yadgir 10695 18176 9810 24465 63146

Total 751131 1039469 645341 1238050 3673991Source: Directorate of Social Security and Pensions,Government of Karnataka,October 2010.

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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:

4.3.1 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 No. of ineligible cases after

verification

Taluk

As o

n 31

-01-

2010

No.

of s

anct

ione

d ca

ses

As o

n 31

.01.

2010

No.

of v

erifi

ed

bene

ficia

ries

Lef

t the

vi

llage

Dea

th c

ases

Foun

d in

elig

ible

Tra

nsfe

r ca

ses

Oth

er r

easo

n

Tot

al in

elig

ible

ca

ses

Chamarajanagar 22773 22773 24 89 ** ** ** 113 Gundlupet 17406 17406 154 7497 74 ** ** 7725 Kollegal 21871 21871 2 35 ** ** ** 37

Old

Age

Pe

nsio

n

Yelandur 7769 7769 28 337 51 2 4181 4599 Total 69819 69819 208 7958 125 2 4181 12474

Chamarajanagar 12602 12602 23 92 ** ** ** 115 Gundlupet 12178 12178 500 3400 10 8 1 3919 Kollegal 11213 11213 2 8 ** * ** 10

Des

titut

e W

idow

Pe

nsio

n

Yelandur 8623 8623 127 250 71 21 5402 5871 Total 44616 44616 652 3750 81 29 5403 9915

Chamarajanagar 4957 4957 12 292 ** ** ** 304 Gundlupet 3774 3774 60 760 7 20 4 851 Kollegal 6918 6918 5 18 ** ** ** 23

Phys

ical

H

andi

capp

ed

Pens

ion

Yelandur 3799 3799 36 86 19 23 2470 2634 Total 19448 19448 113 1156 26 43 2474 3812

Grand Total 118217 133883 973 12864 232 74 12058 26201

75

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

12718 12958 6899 7688 40263

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.

4.3.2 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.