PwD association writes to CM Stalin: Difference of Rs 18 cr spent on scheme suspicious

CHENNAI: A welfare association of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) has written an open letter to the Chief Minister MK Stalin and to the Department of Welfare of Differently-Abled raising concerns on the difference of Rs 18 crore being spent for the newly-included 22,534 beneficiaries for a welfare scheme.

Additionally, the association has sought effective implementation of the maintenance allowance for PwDs in Tamil Nadu and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Nethrodaya, a social service institution working for the rights and empowerment of PwDs, insisted in the letter that the government must verify the data on the number of beneficiaries availing monetary aid under different schemes among other demands.

As per the letter, in 2023-24, the State government has allocated Rs 1,106 crore to the Department for the Welfare of PwDs out of which, a lion’s share of Rs 529 crore was allocated as ‘maintenance allowance scheme’ for the intellectually disabled/highly-affected severely disabled persons, leprosy affected persons and muscular dystrophy.

“It’s significant that a single scheme alone benefits 2,20,421 beneficiaries. Since the inception of the scheme, the implementation process faces several anomalies, discrepancies and challenges in reaching eligible beneficiaries in a time bound period,” the letter stated.

The letter further stated that the performance budget for 2023-24 revealed that 2,20,421 beneficiaries had benefitted at the cost of Rs 493 crore. In 2022-23, Rs 493 crore was disbursed to 1,97,887 regular beneficiaries. The actual calculation shows only Rs 474 crore, where “suspicion arises that a difference of Rs 18 crore was spent for the newly-included 22,534 beneficiaries”.