Govt deletes names of 6k DSSS beneficiaries

Panaji: Minister for social welfare Subhash Phal Dessai said that out of 1.3 lakh beneficiaries of the Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS), govt has deleted the names of 6,000 beneficiaries.
Those whose names have been struck down, Phal Dessai said were either not alive or bogus. With this move, new slots have opened up that can be utilised by selecting eligible applicants from the waiting list.
Govt has been scrutinising the beneficiaries continuously to make sure that ineligible individuals do not avail themselves of the benefits of the DSSS, he said.
Recovery has been started from the individuals who got money under the scheme with wrong submissions. “Recovery is an ongoing process. Till now around Rs 13 crore has been recovered,” the minister said .
The problem, he said, arises as the bank doesn’t update its records. Money gets accumulated in the accounts of the deceased beneficiaries.Since Nov, 2024, a survey has been taken up to weed out the names of deceased and disentitled beneficiaries from the list. Govt spends approximately Rs 29 crore monthly on benefits for 1.38 lakh people."