Plaints with Lokayukta reveal misuse of govt schemes

The Lokayukta has been flooded with a large number of complaints every day.

While the volume is huge, what is more worrying is the nature of these complaints.

A closer look at the complaints has revealed that many of the welfare schemes announced by the government are either not reaching the beneficiaries or are being misused.

Sources in the Lokayukta said that over the years, the anti-corruption watchdog had received numerous complaints in this regard, especially against the irrigation department, agriculture department, horticulture department, and a number of backward development corporations that are responsible to implement government schemes.

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Lokayukta Justice B S Patil told DH that there were instances where a large number of beneficiaries of a scheme were technically ineligible to even apply.

Illegal subsidies

“In many cases, people approach us with complaints against officials who have either refused to process their application for a welfare scheme or delayed the process intentionally. There have also been complaints about the illegal extension of subsidies and misuse of the scheme. We are investigating a number of such complaints,” Patil said.

“This amounts to dereliction of duty and maladministration,” he added.

According to data accessed by DH, 15,933 cases are pending with the Lokayukta.

Apart from the misuse of welfare schemes, there are a variety of other allegations as well.

'Demand for bribes'

From delays in providing services to the demand for bribes to provide government services, complaints are aplenty.

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department (4,371 complaints), Revenue Department (3,826 complaints), and Urban Development Department (2,331 complaints) are the top three departments with the highest number of complaints pending with Lokayukta.

The complaints in the RDPR department mostly pertained to implementation of MGNREGA works and complaints against Panchayat members who failed to issue khatas and provide other services.

While complaints on issuing khatas were also filed against the revenue department and urban development department, there were other complaints too, such as violation of building plans and poor quality of work.