Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.

MAHARASHTRA CHIEF Minister Devendra Fadnavis has vowed “strict action” against those fudging records to claim money for medical expenses from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), a popular scheme to help the poor.

RTI records show that they include applicants who provided dubious income certificates to claim Economically Weaker Section (EWS) status and access benefits meant for those with an annual family income of less than Rs 1 lakh.

Fadnavis’s promise of a crackdown followed a series of reports in The Indian Express earlier this week, which showed how a well-intentioned scheme was being corrupted during implementation by applicants using stolen identities, fake medical records and inflated estimates.

RTI records show that a number of such irregularities were linked to applicants — from contractors to businessmen — who manipulated their income profile, allegedly with the help of middlemen and local government staff.

Consider the following cases:

* On October 21, 2015, a former BJP taluka president from Nagpur, who had executed government civil contracts, secured a certificate from the tahsildar’s office showing his family’s annual income to be Rs 40,000. On December 9, 2015, Rs 50,000 was deposited from the CMRF to the account of the hospital where he was undergoing treatment. The patient did not survive the illness. But when contacted, his family members said they owned a residential plot in Nagpur, and two parcels of farm land elsewhere in the state.

They said that two of his children are pursuing higher education in reputed private colleges in Mumbai. They confirmed that the family’s residence was equipped with a refrigerator, an LED TV, a cable connection, an AC unit and a water heater.

An electricity bill attached with the CMRF application showed that the family’s average monthly bill in 2014 was about Rs 1,250.

* Another Nagpur-based beneficiary, who runs a transport business, claimed that while his family’s annual income was around Rs 3 lakh, “middlemen” had helped him obtain an EWS certificate with an annual income of Rs 60,000. On May 23, 2017, Rs 50,000 was sanctioned from the CMRF for treating head injuries he sustained in a road accident last January.

* On Tuesday, The Indian Express had reported on how a Mumbai-based building contractor, who owns a house in Dombivali, was issued an

EWS certificate on May 30, 2017, from the local tahsildar’s office, showing his family’s monthly income to be Rs 7,666.

On June 5, 2017, his application was sanctioned Rs 1 lakh to fund his cancer treatment. The patent’s daughter said she was employed at a manager-level position in a well known private firm at the time.

* In at last five cases, owners of apartments in high-rise cooperative housing societies in Mumbai were issued EWS certificates.

According to government norms, the local talathi (revenue staff) attached to the tahsildar’s office has to visit an applicant’s home and submit a report on the family’s income status before a certificate is issued. When contacted, Dyandeo Dubal, president, Maharashtra Rajya Talathi Sangh (MRTS), said such field visits were often not conducted because of the workload.

“A talathi is saddled with a lot of administrative work. Under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, his role regarding income certificates is limited to attestation of declarations. Despite this, departments insist that talathis issue income certificates. There is a lot of pressure,” said Dubal.

The MRTS had recently threatened to stop issuing income certificates after police lodged a complaint against a former talathi for allegedly issuing a false certificate to a Navi Mumbai resident whose annual income was later found out to be Rs 9 lakh.

The outfit withdrew the threat following discussions with Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and senior officials.

“There is no rule or guideline on how to determine a person’s income. A talathi primarily relies on the applicant’s self-declaration… We are now seeking formulation of standard guidelines for issuing income certificates,” Dubal said.

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