Kulpahad kasba, Mahoba district. The Uttar Pradesh Government’s grand scheme, Samajwadi Pension Yojana, appears to be in trouble in some parts of Bundelkhand. In Mahoba’s Jaitpur block, some women have alleged that in their area forms for the scheme were filled up without a proper survey being conducted. The scheme is meant to cover 40 lakh beneficiaries in its first phase but the women in Jaitpur have alleged that the list of beneficiaries was manipulated – names of genuine benefactors were stricken off while those of certain others were added.
‘No survey was conducted in this area,’ said Meera. ‘Otherwise how is it that names of those who own pakka houses and land feature on the list?’ Echoing a similar sentiment, Girdhari, a daily wage labourer said, ‘We are poor people who have no fixed earnings. We thought that under this scheme we’d get some much needed benefits.’
Another angry resident Savitri blamed the officer on duty for conducting the survey. ‘I know he has accepted bribes and has put in names of his friends and acquaintances,’ she alleged.
The residents of the area have submitted an application requesting an investigation into the matter. The application was submitted at the Tehsil Diwas on 16 December.
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