By Syed Amin ul Hassan Jafari,
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has dealt a body blow to self-employment schemes for SCs/STs, BCs and Minorities implemented through welfare finance corporations by effecting a wholesale revision of guidelines in the last quarter of the financial year. As a consequence, the welfare departments are likely to utilise only a part of the massive funds allotted for self-employment schemes in the 2013-14 budget. They may grossly miss the target of providing subsidy to the tune of Rs 1,708 crores to 6.24 lakh beneficiaries in the next 70 days before the closure of the financial year.
Curiously, the Government issued GOMs No. 101 through the social welfare department on December 31, 2013, spelling out “comprehensive guidelines” for implementation of self-employment programmes by all the welfare departments during 2013-14. The guidelines were revised, based on the recommendations of a 13-member Group of Ministers constituted in June 2013 for formulating the modalities for economic support schemes of Social, Tribal, Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare, women and child development and disabled welfare departments.
GOMs 101 has changed the subsidy pattern, eligibility criteria, norms for selection of beneficiaries and implementation and monitoring mechanism. Earlier, the economic support schemes were targeted at beneficiaries in the age-group of 18 to 55 years. The family income ceiling was fixed at Rs 60,000 in rural areas and Rs 75,000 in urban areas. 50 percent subsidy was offered upto a maximum of Rs 30,000. The maximum unit cost was upto Rs 2.5 lakh. The beneficiary contribution was pegged at 10 percent of the unit cost and the remaining amount was to be provided through bank loan.
Now, the eligibility criteria have been altered drastically. Beneficiaries have to be in the age-group of 21 to 40 years in case of BCs, minorities and handicapped groups and 21 to 45 years if they belong to SCs and STs. Relaxation of five years is allowed for vulnerable groups among SCs and STs as well as HIV and atrocity victims. Preference will be given to candidates with higher qualifications or requisite qualifications required for a skill or those who were trained under any skill improvement programme of the government or welfare corporations in the current or previous year.
Beneficiaries who are availing the economic support schemes for the first time will be accorded priority. One-third of the beneficiaries will be women. However, only one economic support scheme is to be granted per family and the beneficiaries availing financial assistance for the financial year 2013-14 will not be eligible under the scheme for the next five years. The targeted beneficiaries are to be sub-divided for the districts and mandals/municipalities in proportion to the population of the particular category by the concerned welfare corporation. In view of the short time available during the year, the selection of beneficiaries will be done at the mandal level by a screening-cum-selection committee.
The subsidy payable from the financial year 2013-14 onwards will be 60% of the unit cost limited to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh for SCs and STs and 50% of the unit cost limited to Rs 1 lakh for BCs, Minorities and Disabled. Under SERP and MEPMA, there is no change in the funding pattern. Further, the selection of beneficiaries is to be completed during January 1 to 21, 2014. All applications have to be registered through the online beneficiary monitoring system (OBMS) and the subsidy for the beneficiaries will also be administered through the online system.
The new guidelines have come as a bolt from the blue for thousands of applicants who have registered online during the first nine months of the financial year (April to December 2013). Now, those below 21 years of age or those above 40 or 45 years of age have been rendered ineligible overnight. Applicants have been asked to register afresh based on the new eligibility criteria.
For instance, the AP State Minorities Finance Corporation, which has been given an annual target to assist 33,334 beneficiaries by providing subsidy assistance amounting to Rs 100 crores during 2013-14, had received 41,226 applications till December 17, 2013. Only 11,897 applications were sanctioned with subsidy quantum of Rs 32.90 crores. Out of this, 1,942 applications were actually grounded and subsidy amount of Rs 4.71 crores was disbursed. AP State Christian Finance Corporation set a target to assist 4,592 beneficiaries with subsidy of Rs 18.50 crores. However, only 391 applications were grounded and subsidy of Rs 1.14 crores was disbursed. Both the corporations together are likely to return unutilized funds to the tune of Rs 100 crores during the year to the State government because of the new stringent guidelines.
(The writer is a former journalist and member of legislative council on MIM ticket. The article was first published in Times of India. Reproduced here with the permission of the writer.)