Ensuring that all benefits of welfare schemes reach beneficiaries remains a herculean task

It was certainly agonizing but not surprising to see a 70-year-old disabled woman in Odisha’sKeonjhar district crawling to reach the panchayatoffice to claim her old-age pension, as was widely reported in a section of the media on September 24, 2024. Many people said that the video was old and now the woman has been provided with a wheelchair, apart from disbursing her pension. The elderly woman, identified as PathuriDehury, depends on the pension for her livelihood and has no one to assist her. In one media report, she was quoted as saying: “The Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) asked me to come to the office to receive my pension. With no other option and no one to help me, I had to crawl for two km to reach the office.”

How did the PEO first approach her? Certainly, through some messenger, as she does seemed like she did not have any phone connectivity. The logical question is why the messenger failed to inform the PEO that she won’t be able to come as she had met with an accident and was unable to come personally.

The sarpanch was quoted saying: “We did not know that the elderly woman had to crawl to the office. She recently suffered an accident. We have already decided to deliver her pension and ration to her home by the 15th of every month.”

Here I am reminded of the phrase – the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

The media reports, which are in the public domain depicting the plight of Dehury, convey a lot to all stakeholders, who claimed to be vigorously engaged in the task of building an inclusive and responsible Viksit Bharat by 2047.

As things stand, we really need to work hard day in and day out to ensure that when we celebrate the centenary of India’s Independence as a developed nation, none among us should lead a life like what Dehury has been going through. Every citizen should live his life with ease and dignity. They may not get luxuries of the rich and powerful among us but they must not be deprived of all the basic attributes of a dignified life.

Moreover, in 2047, we should also expect that traffic lights in cities will be free from child beggars. During school time, every child must be in school. Our gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education will not be less than 70 per cent with a pass percentage of 100 per cent.

Spending on healthcare from one’s pockets should be minimal. No patient will be robbed of his kidneys when he is admitted in a hospital for treatment of stone. The culture of organ donation should be so strong and vibrant that no one indulges in acts of trafficking human organs. For the guilty, the punishment will have to be severe. Hospitals and educational institutions in the private sector will be in the no-profit, no loss mode, where services are offered with a sense of dignity and not brazen greed.

The centenary celebration should also mark zero pending cases in our courts, minimal tax evasion by individuals and companies, end of caste and religion based discrimination, no harassment of the common people at police posts, and travel by bus, train and plane becomes much easier and affordable for the masses.

National resources, opportunities, facilities and privileges are evenly distributed among all in proportion to their population so that no one should have the feeling of being left out or less cared for. There should be complete transparency in allocating funds to CSR activities and in their spending by companies. No one should create shell companies and cause loss to the state exchequer.

One would also like to see that in 2047 adulterated food items and drugs are passé. Incidents of heinous crimes such as rapes, murders and extra judicial killings become a thing of the past. Fleecing of students by coaching institutes should come to an end, and the seekers of justice are not treated as clients by advocates.

CAs should guide their companies to pay taxes properly. Shopkeepers do not overcharge customers by taking the benefit of inflated MRP printed on the packets of goods for sale. Pharmaceutical and medical device mafias or syndicates, who mint money by exorbitantly charging from the patients with the people’s government doing little to nail them, are made to follow the pricing norms strictly.

Though an optimist of the highest order, I would like to keep my fingers crossed. Even after almost eight decades of Independence, people’s minimum expectations are treated as a part of their utopian dreams by none other than those who are tasked to ensure that they lead their lives with complete ease. Our civil society members, who are considered to be conscience keepers of the nation, have also become dormant. They open up as per their convenience.

I was jolted to read in digital media on September 24about Atul Kumar, an 18-year-old poor Dalit student, who missed to take admission in the Indian Institute of Technology, IIT, Dhanbad, because of his inability to pay the fee within the stipulated deadline. His plight moved the Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who assured to help him as much as he could.

Atul and his family were unable to pay Rs. 17,500 fee due to their financial constraints. Once he managed to collect the money, he was unable to pay the same due to a technical glitch.

Shouldn’t one wonder as to how hollow is our collective resolve-cum-hype about the last mile development? We need to know the difference between the impact made by freebies and affirmative measures on our people’s socio-economic condition. Freebies or enabling support must be coupled with a strong and well-drafted set of affirmative measures. Even today millions of Atuls are deprived of school and college education as they or their parents cannot think beyond meeting their daily needs.

Let us collectively introspect and plug the loopholes in our system. I must say that ensuring the benefits of welfare schemes reach targeted beneficiaries is still a Herculean task in India.

The question is who should be blamed: Corruption or our hollow concerns or both.