JOIN USUP spent big on hoopla, less on dole
The much touted unemployment dole distribution by the Samajwadi Party (SP) regime in Uttar Pradesh has revealed a shocking fact.
The Akhilesh Yadav government, it has been revealed, has spent more on the functions to distribute the unemployment allowance than the actual dole. The shocking revelation has been made in response to a query in this regard under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, filed by RTI activist Urvashi Sharma.
According to the reply, the government had distributed around Rs 8.5 crore as unemployment dole to the unemployed youths in the state between March 15 and November 15 last year.
However, the money spent during the same period on the grand functions in which the CM himself distributed the dole cheques to the youths was a staggering Rs 12.29 crore.
The government reply said that the amount was spent on advertisement, food and other things.
Unemployment allowance was one of the major pre-poll promises of the SP and the party had portrayed its distribution throughout the state as a significant achievement.
Yadav himself traveled to different parts of the state and distributed the dole cheques to the beneficiaries at grand functions.
Thousands of beneficiaries were brought to the function venue from different places in chartered buses for the purpose.
Besides many of the state ministers have also been traveling to different parts of the state to distribute the cheques at functions. However, those functions were not as grand as the ones attended by the CM.
Although the data was given in the bracket of March-November for the fiscal 2012-13, the distribution of cheques started on September 9 last year when the first set of Rs 1000 cheques were given to 10,500 youths at a function in Lucknow.
The scheme is likely to benefit over eight lakh youngsters in the state.
Under the scheme, eligible bachelors in the age group of 25-40 are given Rs 1,000 per month till they are employed.
BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya lashed out at the SP regime for what he termed as “wastage” of public money. “The objective behind the dole is not the welfare of the unemployed youths. It was aimed at garnering their votes”, he alleged.