2.4K ‘dead’ workers use Aadhaar to get PDS benefits in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: An audit report has found that over 2,400 nirman shramiks (NS) or building and construction workers collected their quota of subsidised foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) despite being dead. And how!

The workers, covered under the state government’s Nirman Shramik scheme, received their ration under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)/State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) despite having been declared dead and their kin being disbursed death compensation. Still, these dead workers managed to ‘authenticate’ that they were alive using authentication measures and collected their ration quota, reveals the audit report seen by The New Indian Express.

The audit analysed data provided by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department and found that in 2,487 cases, dead beneficiaries had received ration through authentication. The audit cited 753 cases in which kin or nominees of deceased nirman shramiks had been disbursed `15.10 crore towards death compensation. However, the same beneficiaries continued to collect their PDS quota of foodgrains by providing at least three different Aadhaar authentications.Under the Nirman Shramik scheme of the state government, building and construction workers between 18 and 60 years of age who have completed at least 90 days of work in the preceding 12 months are entitled to benefits such as scholarships for children, assistance for marriage, maternity benefits, funeral expenses and death compensation. The scheme is guided by the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.