Thursday, February 23, 2023

Chandigarh, February 23: Reiterating its commitment to Antyodaya Utthan, the state government will launch Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Parivar Suraksha Yojana. Under this scheme, assistance will be provided based on the age of the person at the time of death or permanent disability of a family member with an annual income of up to Rs 1.80 lakh on the basis of Parivar Pehchan Patra data.

This information was given by Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, who is also the Finance Minister, while presenting the budget for the year 2023-24 during the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha today.

The Finance Minister said that under this scheme, Rs. 1 lakh up to the age of 6 years, Rs. 2 lakh above 6 years and up to 18 years, Rs. 3 lakh above 18 years and up to 25 years, Rs 5 lakh above 25 years and up to 40 years and Rs 2 lakh assistance has been proposed from the age of 40 years to 60 years. “This benefit will also include an amount of Rs 2 lakh received under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana in the age group of 18 to 40 years,” he added.

Rs 11,250 crore sent to beneficiaries through DBT in the year 2022-23, saved Rs 1182 crore by removing 36.75 lakh fake beneficiaries

The Finance Minister said that the state’s DBT portal became operational in September, 2017. On the DBT portal, 142 schemes have been onboarded, out of which 58 are centrally sponsored schemes and 84 are state schemes. He said that in the year 2022-23 till December, 2022, Rs 11,250 crore has been transferred through DBT to the beneficiaries. After the launch of this scheme, an estimated saving of Rs 1182 crore has been achieved by eliminating 36.75 lakh fake beneficiaries.

Responsibility of taking care of citizens assigned to specific departments

Sh. Manohar Lal said that using the data available in the Parivar Pehchan Patra database, the government has decided to assign the responsibility of taking care of citizens to specific departments. He said that the age group up to 6 years has been assigned to the Department of Women and Child Development, so that every needy child can be taken care of, irrespective of whether the child is currently attending an Anganwadi centre or not.

The age group above 6 years and up to 18 years has been assigned to the school education department to ensure that no child remains out of school. Similarly, the age group above 18 years and up to 25 years has been assigned to the higher education department to ensure that every youth is either educated or gets skilled for jobs.

The age group above 25 years and up to 40 years has been assigned to the Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Department to ensure skill, entrepreneurship and employment for the youth of this age group.

The Finance Minister said that the age group of 40 to 60 years would be taken care of by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department and people above 60 years of age would be taken care of by the Services Department. “It is an ambitious program to take the government to the people of the state,” he added.

Haryana Parivar Suraksha Nyas

Sh. Manohar Lal said that the government has set up the ‘Haryana Parivar Suraksha Nyas’ to consolidate the existing insurance schemes, ensure standardized and simplified claims process and provide benefits directly to the people. “The Nyas is implementing the Mukhyamantri Karamchari Durghatna Bima Yojana for group C and D category employees and safai karamcharis working in high risk areas, Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Bima Yojna for small businessmen for accidental death or permanent disability and Mukhyamantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana to provide social security cover to the Antyodaya families,” he said.

In addition, the revised guidelines of Mukhyamantri Vyapari Ksyhatipurti Bima Yojana to provide compensation in cases of loss of assets due to natural calamity or fire to street vendors, small traders and businessmen; whose annual turnover is up to Rs.1.50 crore, have been notified recently. This scheme will also start from April 1, 2023.

State Audit Department to be created for internal audit

The Finance Minister said that the government has notified the ‘Haryana Public Finance Accountability Act, 2019’ to conduct internal audit in all departments, Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. He said that the government proposes to create a state audit department to conduct internal audit of local bodies and non-governmental organizations that receive financial assistance from the government, use due process, safeguard government assets and prevent misuse of resources.

“As far as possible the internal audit will be conducted in faceless mode through the portal set up for the purpose. This will ensure transparency and greater accountability in public expenditure,” he added.