Government of Jammu & Kashmir

Evaluation Report On

Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme(IGNOAPS) J & K State

(2009-10 to 2011-12)

Directorate of Economics and Statistics, J&K

Planning and Development Department

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Beneficiaries found dead

Nomadic Beneficiaries who had shifted to Behaks and could not be contacted

Beneficiaries not Traced

Beneficiaries actually found and Contacted

Sample Beneficiaries selected for verification

129 (11%)

54 (5%)

204 (18%)

752(66%)

1139

Implementation Profile of IGNOAPS in sample districts (Samba & Shopian )

Number & Percentage of beneficiaries

Highlights of the study

1) Allocation of funds by the Govt under IGNOAPS had throughout been slightly less than the actual requirements in respect of both the sample districts. This state of situation had naturally left no room for the implementing Department to sanction and accommodate new cases but to make replacement of weeded out beneficiaries at the most.

2) The physical progress of the scheme very clearly indicated that the implementing Department had restricted the coverage of beneficiaries to a certain limit. Given the fact that the allocations were not demand driven, the implementing Department had choosen to accommodate new cases to the extent of weeded out beneficiaries on yearly basis.

3) In all during the reference period 2009-10 to 2011-12, the two sample districts

managed to accommodate 921 new cases for benefit under IGNOAPS against 1086 weeded out beneficiaries with the result the number of beneficiaries virtually decreased from 4799 in 2009-10 to 4634 in 2011-12. Given the fact that scores of cases were pending in the Social Welfare Department awaiting sanction for coverage, the decrease in the number of beneficiaries was not justified.

4) The beneficiary profile of IGNOAPS brought one more peculiar feature to the

fore i.e. the gender combination of beneficiaries. In aggregate by the end of 2011-12, there were 2624 female beneficiaries against 2010 male beneficiaries in the twin districts at the ratio of 57:43. These figures, among other things brought this fact to the fore that the female gender of the population is the most vulnerable part of the society needing special concern by the Govt.

5) The field enquiry at the very beginning came across the disturbing situation

suggesting casual and non responsible attitude of the Social Welfare Department in implementing the scheme. A handsome number of 204 reported beneficiaries out of 1139 selected for verification which constituted 18% were not traced in the field. The Evaluation Agency has no reason to believe that such enlisted persons were the bonafide beneficiaries under IGNOAPS. Instead they were treated as fictitious cases which needs in-depth departmental enquiry for establishment of truth and fixation of responsibility.

6) Besides non-traceable cases, 129 cases were found dead on the date of survey

which suggests that the implementing Department was not prompt in reporting and consequently in weeding out the expired beneficiaries from the live list of beneficiaries under IGNOAPS. The Department must put in place all administrative and monitory measures to enhance the legitimate activities of its field functionaries for intime and smooth delivery of assistance under various Social Security Schemes being implemented through it. Intime reporting of

expired cases would have also paved way for inclusion of other deserving people within the available financial resources of the Department.

7) The assistance under IGNOAPS is explicitly for destitutes above 65 years of

age. The field study conducted across sample districts found that 19% of the contacted beneficiaries were well below the age of 65 years even on the date of survey and would have naturally been much younger at the time of sanctioning. Astonishingly instances of even 9th class students were found receiving old age pension under the scheme. A couple of students undergoing PG courses in Universities were found deliciously receiving the old age destitute pension.

8) The field observations were mostly suggestive of the fact that maximum

number of beneficiaries belonged to the poor families but the instances of economically moderate families managing coverage under IGNOAPS were also there. For instance in Shopian district a couple of beneficiaries were the Parents of two serving Govt employees each which implies that they were not eligible as per scheme norms.

9) The Social Welfare Department itself had been the basic source of awareness

about the scheme for maximum number of beneficiaries followed by VLW/Village Panchayat. The village headmen and Anganwari Workers have also been the source of awareness to a sizeable number of beneficiaries.

10) The disposal of cases in so far as time taken in sanctioning the cases is

concerned was moderately satisfactory. However, the speedy disposal of cases should not result in indiscriminate sanctioning without any regard to rules, regulations and norms governing the scheme.

11) Out of 752 contacted beneficiaries, 334 beneficiaries described the procedure of

sanctioning as easy whileas 14% stated it cumbersome and 38% regarded the procedure lengthy. 66 beneficiaries which constituted 9% stated that it needs approach to get the IGNOAPS cases sanctioned from the Social Welfare Department. 4 beneficiaries from Shopian and 43 from Samba expressed that money and support were required for sanctioning of cases, otherwise one has to undergo lengthy and cumbersome process.

12) As per expected lines, the majority of beneficiaries were feeling themselves

socially and economically secure as a result of pension being provided to them. 286 out of 752 beneficiaries were feeling socially secure, otherwise their social position would have been disastrous. Likewise 384 beneficiaries constituting 51% of contacted ones expressed themselves economically protected by getting coverage under the scheme. 11% beneficiaries reported to have maintained their honour and dignity which otherwise would not have been possible in the given circumstances.

13) The beneficiary satisfaction level was miserably low in respect of all the different phases/facets of the scheme except the identification process which claimed satisfaction of 64% contacted beneficiaries. The process of sanctioning of cases, amount of pension, regularity of payments have claimed the satisfaction of limited number of beneficiaries. The Department must take a review of the implementation process at the highest administrative level. They must identify the lacunas/sluggishness in the process of implementation and take all administrative, monitory and supervisory measures for improving the implementation efficiency of the Department.

14) Regarding the amount of Pension, only 15 beneficiaries constituting just 2%

were satisfied over it which was Rs 400/- per month in J&K by the end of 2011-12 . This low satisfaction level necessitates that it should undergo a revision at the earliest. The meagre amount of Pension was regarded as the basic problem of the scheme by 88% of the enquired beneficiaries, particularly in view of huge inflationary trends which took place in the recent past.

15) From the enquired beneficiaries, 736 which constituted 98% of the total were

in favour of the scheme to be continued in view of its care taking character. However, some suggestions were offered by them for enhancing the efficiency of the scheme and enabling it to fulfill the objectives in the present economic and social scenario. The most intensified suggestion putforth by the beneficiaries was the enhancement in the rate of Pension.

16) The field survey revealed that out of 427 located uncovered destitutes in the

sample villages/wards, only 58% were aware of the IGNOAPS. For the remaining 42% destitutes, non-awareness naturally was the basic cause for them not to apply for coverage under the scheme.

17) The IGNOAPS is basically a burden sharing scheme and in such a situation, it is difficult and almost impossible to measure the net impact of the scheme. However, from the study of various parameters, it transpires that the target population had acquired a breathing space in their day to day expenditure and were feeling a bit comfortable in the society.

18) For successful implementation of incentive based schemes, some mechanism

is required to be evolved so that assistance provided could be revised on scientific basis periodically, at least after every five years, if not on annual basis. Linking the rate of pension with some suitable price index may provide a solution to this problem. The revision in the rate of Pension is strongly recommended to enable the scheme to achieve the objectives in an appropriate manner. The rate of pension is justified to be in the neighbourhood of minimum per capita monthly expenditure required for survival of an individual in the given socio-economic conditions.

Contents

Chapter No Description of Chapter Page No’s I Introduction 1 – 5 II Financial/Physical Progress 6 – 10 III Field Findings 11 – 44 IV Summary of Main Findings 45 - 50 & suggestions Annexure “A” List of Non-traceable beneficiaries 51 – 59 Annexure “B” List of Expired beneficiaries 60 – 65 Annexure “C” List of beneficiaries not receiving 66 pension under IGNOAPS but were

existing on the list.

____________ ____________________________________ _________

Chapter - I Introduction:

The Department of Social Welfare has been assigned the responsibility of mitigating the traditional exploitation of the poor and un-privileged sections of the society, besides bridging the social gaps among various strata of population. For the achievement of this objective, various benefit oriented schemes have been launched from time to time to bring unprivileged and underprivileged within the ambit of schemes so as to transform them into useful citizens of the society and facilitate their life with dignity and social honour.

The National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) was one of such schemes introduced in the year 1976 in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It remained in operation for several years but failed to bring the desired results mainly because of non-adherence of norms and faulty implementation. In order to overcome the deficiencies, the scheme was revamped in 1995 by Government of India and renamed as Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS), constituting of three sub-schemes viz National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS) and National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS). The first component of the scheme was further rechristened as Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and formally launched on 19th of November 2007. The revised version of the scheme in the form of IGNOAPS distinguishes itself from its earlier versions by rationalizing the procedure, regulating the sanctions, maximizing the awareness and minimizing the official interventions through strict vigil and eligibility criteria for coverage of beneficiaries.

Eligibility and Scope: - The eligibility criteria of the scheme is as under:-

I. The age of destitute (male or female) should be 65 years or above. As per the revised eligibility criteria the age has been reduced to 60 years instead of 65 years w.e.f.1st April 2011. However, the revised guidelines were not implemented in J&K State by the end of 2011-12 due to belated notification of guidelines.

II. He/she must be destitute in the sense of having little or no regular source of subsistence/financial supports form other family members or other sources.

III. He/she must belong to a household living below the poverty line according to the criteria prescribed by the Govt. of India.

IV. The central contribution of pension under the scheme is Rs .200/-per month per beneficiary and the state Govt. can contribute over and above to this amount out of State resources. At present, every beneficiary is getting Rs .400/- per month with a break-up of Rs .200/- each from Central and State share. In the revised guidelines

the Central Share would remain unchanged in respect of beneficiaries in the age group of 60-79 years. However, it would be enhanced to 500/- per month per beneficiary aged 80 years and above w.e.f. 1st April 2011. The revised guidelines were not implemented in J&K by the end of financial year 2011-12.

V. The scheme aims at providing social protection to the eligible beneficiaries.

Procedure:

a. The eligible persons are required to apply on an application form devised for the purpose and available in the Social Welfare Department.

b. The age certificate is required to be obtained from the concerned Medical officer duly attested by the concerned Block Medical Officer.

c. The income and destitute criteria is determined on the certificate issued by a Gazetted Officer and Revenue authorities of the area to which the applicant belongs.

d. The applicant must have BPL card or his/her name must be registered in the BPL register maintained for the purpose.

e. The applications are furnished to the concerned Tehsil Social Welfare officers where these are thoroughly scrutinized/verified and the list of bonafide cases is recommended to the District Social Welfare Officer. The final sanction is accorded by District Level Sanctioning Committee (DLSC) constituted for the purpose under the Chairmanship of District Development Commissioner concerned.

Mode of Payment: -

The payment is disbursed to the beneficiaries through payees bank account on monthly/Quarterly basis in J&K State after properly checking their identity cards issued to them for receipt of the pension under IGNOAPS.

Identification for Evaluation:- The Stale Level Evaluation Committee (SLEC) in its 5th meeting held at Jammu on 25th of November 2011, inter-alia decided to evaluate IGNOAPS during 2012-13. The study was assigned to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

Objectives of the Study:- The study was planned to be conceived with the following objectives:-

I. To assess the progress viz-a-viz targets both Physical and Financial of the Scheme.

II. To assess ground realities with regard to coverage, identification procedure, selection and sanctioning of cases.

III. To assess the impact of the scheme on Targeted beneficiaries. IV. To review the mechanism adopted and adherence of norms prescribed

for the scheme during implementation with regard to eligibility criteria, mode of payment and timely payments.

V. To make assessment of new sanctioning of cases and weeding-out of beneficiaries due to non-eligibility and deaths etc.

VI. To elicit the public opinion about the Scheme and extent of the level of satisfaction.

VII. To identify the bottlenecks/impediments faced, if any, in the implementation of the scheme.

VIII. To suggest corrective measures on the basis of feedback of beneficiaries/knowledgeable persons for effecting improvements in the implementation of the scheme.

Reference Period: -

The reference period of the study was the three year span from 2009-10 to 2011-12. However, the list of beneficiaries for the year 2011-12 served as frame for field investigation.

Sample Size and Procedure: -

As per the aspirations of the State Level Evaluation Committee (SLEC), the study was to be confined to limited geographical areas. Accordingly two districts namely Samba and Shopian were selected at random giving representation to both the divisions of the state. In the selected districts, one Tehsil with moderate coverage was selected to avoid over estimation or under estimation of results. In the selected Tehsil, 25% villages/ wards were selected at random on area approach basis. In the selected villages/ wards, all BPL card holder families were covered to locate the eligible persons with reference to the frame obtained from Social Welfare Department. All the eligible persons whether covered under IGNOAPS or still uncovered were interviewed using two separate types of schedules. Beside this, three knowledgeable persons in each selected village/ wards were asked to express themselves on various parameters of the scheme on specific schedule. Instead of going for house listing of village/ ward for locating BPL families/ destitute, the services of AWW/ Headman were utilized as source of information on the subject. In respect of selected villages/ wards all the beneficiaries figuring in the frame were enquired/ interviewed.

Field Operations:- The field operations of the study were conducted by the respective District Statistics and Evaluation offices. The services of Statistical staff posted in the Block Development Offices were also got utilized to enable the completion of the assignment within the stipulated time-frame.

Supervision:- Intensive Supervision was conducted by the concerned DSEOs and the Regional Joint Directors during the field operations. Supervisory notes were prepared, depicting the ground realities with instances of case studies, by the supervisory officers which were subsequently submitted to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, J&K for reference at the report writing stage.

Instruments of Investigation:

For obtaining official data from the District Social Welfare Offices of selected Districts and Sample Tehsil Social Welfare Offices, a set of 08 formats was devised which included a format for frame as well. For the purposes of field operations, three schedules one each for beneficiary, eligible non-beneficiary and knowledgeable person, were devised with reference to the objectives of the study.

Scrutiny and Tabulation:

The concerned DSEOs’ were required to scrutinize the schedules minutely and incase discrepancies were found, rectifications were effected and even reference back to the field was done for ensuring that the data collected was free from all errors and omissions. After proper scrutiny, the data was displayed on muster sheets and then tables generated as per the tabulation plan prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The muster sheets were prepared by the DSEO offices themselves on the basis of tabulation plan/schedules.

Report Writing:

Once the tables were generated as per tabulation plan, these were submitted to the DES along with the supervisory notes of supervisory officers. The Directorate analyzed the information, consolidated it and drafting of the report was done keeping intact the district level data.

Analytical Tools:

Logical analysis of data was done by using appropriate statistical tools and techniques in terms of percentages, averages, bar charts, pie diagrams etc. This made phenomenon easy to understand and also enhanced the presentation of report.

Chapter -II Financial Input:

Under INDRA GANDHI NATIONAL OLD AGE PENSION SCHEME

(IGNOAPS) a sum of Rs .400/- per month is provided in Jammu and Kashmir State for registered beneficiaries through the Social Welfare Department. The Input of the Scheme is basically the financial allocation earmarked for it and, of course, the efforts of the Social Welfare Department in identifying the deserving persons, processing their cases and finally disbursing the amount envisaged under it. The Evaluation Process is the input and output analysis of the Scheme and naturally before analyzing the outputs in terms of realization of stipulated objectives, the assessment of inputs of the scheme has to be made. The instant study has been confined to two sample district of Shopian and Samba and the reference period stands restricted to the years 2009-10 to 2011-12. The following table provides information on the financial inputs required, provided and actually disbursed to the beneficiaries during the reference period.

Table No – 1

Details of Allocation and Expenditure 2009-10 to 2011-12.

(unit - Rs in lacs) S.no District Year Amount

required Amount provided

Amount Disbursed

%age amount utilized

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) 1 Samba 2009-10 145.66 128.57 128.57 100%

2010-11 170.53 149.92 145.70 97% 2011-12 170.53 160.03 160.03 100%

Total 486.72 438.52 434.30 99%

2 Shopian 2009-10 65.52 55.11 55.11 100% 2010-11 66.38 62.29 61.58 99% 2011-12 66.34 63.79 63.75 100%

Total 198.24 181.19 180.44 100%

Total 2009-10 211.18 183.68 183.68 100% 2010-11 236.91 212.21 207.28 98% 2011-12 236.87 223.82 223.78 100%

Total 684.96 619.71 614.74 99%

In fact the scheme modalities require the Social Welfare Department

to continue the process of identification, processing and sanctioning of cases under IGNOAPS together with the process of weeding-out non deserving/un-eligible cases, mainly occurring due to deaths. On the basis of net number of beneficiaries, the Department of Social Welfare Projects the demand before the government for the next financial year. As per the modalities of the Govt of India governing the IGNOAPS, the states have been provided estimated number of beneficiaries and they are required to identify all the

eligible beneficiaries upto that estimate for obtaining central assistance. In case the coverage exceeds the estimated limit, the expenditure on excess number of beneficiaries has to be borne by the respective state Govts from their own funds. In respect of J&K State, the estimated ceiling was 129000 and the state had fully identified the quota and naturally for accommodation of new cases it had no option but to make replacement of weeded-out cases. However, from 1st April 2011 the age limit has been lowered from 65 years to 60 years as a result of which revised estimated limit of 145263 has been fixed for J&K State. Now it could accommodate 16263 more cases as per the new notified guidelines. But upto the end of 2011-12 the revised guidelines were not implemented in J&K State reportedly due to belated issuance of notification of revised guidelines. The analysis of information brings this fact to the fore that the demand put forth by the Social Welfare Department Shopian was actual amount required for on-roll beneficiaries which stood at the beginning of the financial year. But the amount demanded by the Social Welfare Officer Samba was less than the actual requirement for the existing cases in respect of 2009-10, though for the remaining two years the demand for funds was in addition to the actual requirement, possibly provision kept for new accommodations. As regards allocation of funds by the Govt under IGNOAPS, it had through-out been slightly less than the actual requirement in respect of both the sample districts. This state of situation had naturally left no room for the implementing department to sanction and accommodate new cases but to make replacement of weeded-out beneficiaries at the most. In aggregate during the reference period against the requirement of Rs 684.96 lakhs an amount of Rs 619.71 lakhs was provided to the sample districts which was less by 10% of the requirements.

The utilization of allocated financial resources under IGNOAPS was

observed well as per expected lines in view of the simplicity of the scheme. Once the bonafide beneficiaries are identified, verified and finally sanctioned for coverage under the scheme, there remains no hurdle in disbursing the amount of pension due under the scheme. The utilization of funds in both the sample districts for all the financial years of the reference period was 100% or very close to it. In aggregate against an allocation of Rs 619.71 lakhs, an amount of Rs 614.74 lakhs was utilized registering an achievement of 99%. The fund utilizing efficiency of the schemes remains a major factor influencing the ultimate realization of objectives in terms of effects and impacts caused on the target group of population. The evaluation audit over the years has incontrovertibly established this fact that programmes with better fund utilization efficiency are likely to realize the postulated objectives and vice versa, provided all possible safeguards in the utilization process are applied appropriately. Thus the better utilization efficiency of IGNOAPS is expected to yield better and encouraging results provided all possible measures in terms of proper identification, transparent sanctioning of cases and, of course, adherence of norms is got ensured by those at the helm of affairs

under the scheme. It also needs special mention here that schemes with high fund utilization efficiency are equally vulnerable to mis-appropriation, particularly, when proper supervisory and monitoring system fails to perform in an effective manner. Beneficiary Profile:

The allocations made by the Govt under IGNOAPS over the reference years allowed only replacement of weeded out beneficiaries understandbly so because the State had already attained the estimated ceiling 1,29,000 beneficiaries. The total allocation for the two sample districts stood at Rs 183.68 lakhs during 2009-10 which rose to Rs 212.21 lakhs in 2010-11 and further to Rs .223.82 lakhs in 2011-12 showing 16% and 5% increase for 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. The increase in the allocation was evidently for compensating the increase in the rate of Pension which was raised from Rs 325/- to Rs 400/- per month w.e.f. Nov 2010. The number of beneficiaries who were covered in the sample districts under IGNOAPS for disbursement of pension is provided in the following table along with ancillary information:-

Table No -2

Details of beneficiary coverage under IGNOAPS

(unit in No’s) S.no

District

Year

Beneficiaries as on 31st March previous year

New Sanctions during the year

Number of Weeded-out Cases during the year

Number of beneficiaries as on 31st March reporting year

Ma

le

Fem

ale

Tota

l

Ma

le

Fem

ale

Tota

l

Ma

le

Fem

ale

Tota

l

Ma

le

Fem

ale

Tota

l

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) 1 Sam

ba 2009-10 1396 2020 3416 150 236 386 150 236 386 1396 2020 3416 2010-11 1396 2020 3416 74 200 274 200 74 274 1270 2146 3416 2011-12 1270 2146 3416 - - - 87 78 165 1183 2068 3251 Total - - - 224 436 660 437 388 825 - - -

2 Shopian

2009-10 827 556 1383 129 88 217 129 88 217 827 556 1383 2010-11 827 556 1383 19 15 34 19 15 34 827 556 1383 2011-12 827 556 1383 6 4 10 6 4 10 827 556 1383 Total - - - 154 107 261 154 107 261 - -

Total

2009-10 2223 2576 4799 279 324 603 279 324 603 2223 2576 4799 2010-11 2223 2576 4799 93 215 308 219 89 308 2097 2702 4799 2011-12 2097 2702 4799 6 4 10 93 82 175 2010 2624 4634 Grand Total

- - 378 543 921 591 495 1086 -

The launching of social assistance schemes like the IGNOAPS is under

constitutional obligation of the Govt. to provide public assistance to its citizens in case of old age, sickness, disablement etc. within the limit of its resources. All citizens being equal, these schemes require to be demand

driven to ensure the coverage of all deserving cases of a particular category. But the financial profile of IGNOAPS amply suggests that it is rather an allocation driven scheme and the implementing Department could accommodate only a restricted number of beneficiaries within the fold of the scheme to the extent of yearly allocations. The physical profile of the scheme very clearly indicates that the implementing Department had restricted the coverage of beneficiaries to a certain limit. The yearly allocations made available hardly allowed them to increase the number of beneficiaries. During the reference period, the number of beneficiaries in respect of district Samba was 3416 for 2009-10 and 2010-11 and reduced to 3251 during 2011-12. In respect of district Shopian the number of beneficiaries remained stagnant at 1383 for all the three years of the reference period. Given the fact that allocations were not demand driven, the implementing Department had chosen to accommodate new cases to the extent of weeded-out beneficiaries on yearly basis. It could be seen from the depicted information of Table No-2 that new cases were being registered under the scheme only to the extent of weeded out cases occurring due to various causes, major of them being the death. Weeding-out of beneficiaries and their replacement by new beneficiaries seems the regular exercise of the Social Welfare Department under IGNOAPS. However, during the year 2011-12 no new cases were sanctioned in respect of district Samba in spite of the fact that 165 beneficiaries were weeded out on various reasons. In all during the reference period 2009-10 to 2011-12, the two sample districts managed to accommodate 921 new cases for benefit under IGNOAPS against 1086 weeded-out beneficiaries with the result the number of beneficiaries virtually decreased from 4799 in 2009-10 to 4634 in 2011-12. Given the fact that scores of cases were pending in the Social Welfare Department awaiting sanction for coverage, the decrease in the number of beneficiaries was unwarranted and not justified. These aspects of the scheme need constant overview of the monitoring agencies and intime and appropriate directions to the implementing agencies for speedy action on ground.

The beneficiary profile of IGNOAPS brings one more peculiar feature to

the fore i.e. the gender combination of beneficiaries. In Samba district the number of female beneficiaries was more than 60% during all the three years of reference period. In district Shopian, it was in favour of males at a stagnant ratio of 60:40 for all the three years of reference period. In aggregate by the end of 2011-12, there were 2624 female beneficiaries against 2010 male beneficiaries in the twin sample districts at the ratio of 57:43. These figures, among other things, brings this fact to the light that the female gender of the population is the most vulnerable part of the society needing concern of the Governments.

Chapter -III

Field Findings:

In order to strike a comparison between the official claims of the Implementing Department regarding achievements made under IGNOAPS and what actually existed on the ground and also to ascertain the impact and extent of success of the scheme, a field enquiry was launched in sample districts of Samba and Shopian. The essence of evaluation studies are the field findings based on observations, inspections and interactions with all the stakeholders and of course, the view of knowledgeable persons as an independent and unbiased source of assessment. Many inferences and conclusions are evidently and uncontroversialy drawn from the official information itself both of positive and negative nature, but the actual status of the scheme is measured mainly on the yardstick of field operations by applying all possible and appropriate tools and techniques. In the instant evaluation study, a field study was launched in 124 villages and 8 urban wards as per the stipulated sample size and procedure thereby covering 1139 sample beneficiaries. It was of the magnitude of 25% of the beneficiaries in the twin districts of samba and Shopian as per the frame in respect of the year 2011-12. In addition to this, non-beneficiaries in the surveyed villages/wards were also contacted to ascertain the causes of their non-coverage under the scheme, besides arriving at a simple estimation of deserving but uncovered cases under IGNOAPS. In the sample villages/wards a sizeable number of Knowledgeable persons was also contacted to ascertain their views on the successes/failures of the scheme together with the adherence of norms by the Implementing Department. The ultimate sample which was finally contacted on the basis of which inferences and conclusions were drawn with reference to the objectives of the study is reflected below:-

Table No -3

Final sample contacted/verified under IGNOAPS

S.no Description Samba Shopian Total (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

1. Villages/Wards Taken-up 70 62 132

2. Beneficiaries 570 569 1139

3. Non-Beneficiaries 265 162 427

4. Knowledgeable Persons 216 136 352

Across the two sample districts, 132 villages/wards were taken-

up for field investigations with reference to the frame of beneficiaries under IGNOAPS as stood on 31-3-2012. In the selected villages/wards all the beneficiaries existed on the frame were selected which aggregated to 1139 beneficiaries and thus constituting 25% of the total beneficiaries reported on the rolls of the District Social Welfare Offices of Samba and Shopian which stood at 4634 beneficaries. In the surveyed villages/wards, the evaluation teams made all possible efforts to locate the eligible persons who were still uncovered under IGNOAPS. This was done by using the services of Anganwari Workers and Village Headmen, mainly to arrive at the estimate of deserving people yet to get coverage under the scheme. As an independent and unbiased source of commentary on the scheme, a sizeable total of 352 knowledgeable persons was also contacted. Beneficiary Status:

Across the sample districts, there were 4634 beneficiaries receiving assistance under IGNOAPS as on 31-3-2012. In the selected 124 villages and 8 urban wards, 1139 such beneficiaries were existing on the frame and accordingly the evaluation teams were to verify and interact with all of them to get the required feedback for satisfying the postulated objectives of the study. But the ground position of IGNOAPS beneficiaries was of mixed nature which is reflected in the following table:-

Table No -4

Ground Position of IGNOAPS beneficiaries

S.no

Description

District Samba

District Shopian Total %age to Total

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 1 Sample Beneficiaries selected

for verification 570 569 1139 100%

2. Beneficiaries found dead 86 43 129 11% 3. Beneficiaries not Traced 132 72 204 18% 4. Beneficiaries shifted to Behaks

not contacted - 54 54 5 %

5. Beneficiaries actually found and Contacted

352 400 752 66%

The field enquiry at the very beginning came across the disturbing

situations suggesting casual and non responsible attitude of the Social

Welfare Department in implementing the scheme. A handsome number of 204 reported beneficiaries out of 1139 selected for verification which constituted 18% were not traced in the field. The evaluation agency has no reason to believe that such enlisted persons were the bonafide beneficiaries under IGNOAPS. Instead they were treated as fictitious cases which needs in-depth departmental enquiry for establishment of facts and fixation of responsibility. To facilitate the departmental enquiry by the Social Welfare Department, the list of such non-traceable/fictitious IGNOAPS cases is provided as Annexure A of the report. The existence of fictitious cases speaks loud and clear about the non-existence or in-effective supervision mechanism and monitoring system of the Department. In the recently conducted various evaluation studies it was established with facts and figures that schemes/programmes implemented under weak and ineffective supervisory and monitoring mechanisms were derailed and virtually unable to maximize the 0bjectives postulated therefor. In order to ensure that scheme like IGNOAPS and other beneficiary oriented schemes are implemented as intended by the Plan Strategists, there is dire need to strengthen the supervisory system and monitoring mechanism of the Social Welfare Department. The Department has to implement dozens of Social, Developmental and security schemes and naturally adequate manpower must be provided to ensure implementation and necessary safeguards for ensuring transparency in the selection procedure.

Besides non-traceable cases, 129 cases were found dead on the date

of survey which suggests that the Implementing Department was not prompt in reporting and consequently in weeding out the expired beneficiaries from the live list of beneficiaries under IGNOAPS(Annexure – B). The Department must put in place all administrative, monitoring and supervisory measures to enhance the legitimate activities of its field functionaries for intime and smooth delivery of assistance under various social security schemes being implemented through it. Intime reporting of expired cases would have also paved way for inclusion of other deserving people within the available financial resources of the Department. A contingent of 54 more beneficiaries could not be contacted due to their nomadic character and had shifted to the Behaks as on the date of survey.

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Beneficiaries found dead

Beneficiaries not Traced

Beneficiaries actually found and Contacted

Sample Beneficiaries selected for verification

86 (15%)

132 (23%)

352 (62%)

570

District Samba

From the 1139 selected beneficiaries only 752 constituting 66% of the

total selections in the sample districts were actually contacted in the field and their views ascertained on various aspects of the scheme. The demographic features of these enquired beneficiaries are provided hereunder:-

Table No -5 Demographic features of the enquired beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Age of Beneficiaries

Below 65 years

65-70 years

70-80 Years

80-90 years

90-100 years

Above 100 years

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) 1. Samba 352 38 96 143 62 11 2

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Beneficiaries found dead

Nomadic Beneficiaries not traced /contacted

Beneficiaries not Traced

Beneficiaries actually found and Contacted

Sample Beneficiaries selected for verification

43 (8%)

54 (9%)

72 (13%)

400(70%)

569

District Shopian

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Beneficiaries found dead

Nomadic Beneficiaries who had shifted to Behaks and could not be contacted

Beneficiaries not Traced

Beneficiaries actually found and Contacted

Sample Beneficiaries selected for verification

129 (11%)

54 (5%)

204 (18%)

752(66%)

1139

Total both sample district (Samba+Shopian)

Number of beneficiaries

2. Shopian 400 62 202 103 26 5 2 Total 752 100 298 246 88 16 4

%age to Total - 13% 40% 33% 12% 2% -

The assistance under IGNOAPS is explicitly for destitutes of above 65 years of age. The field study conducted across the sample districts found that 13% of the contacted beneficiaries were below the age of 65 even on the date of survey and would have naturally been much younger at the time of identification and sanctioning. The norms of the scheme have greatly been violated and maximum responsibility lies on the Implementing Department. It is the Implementing Department which through its field functionaries had to verify the eligibility of those applying for coverage under the Scheme. Astonishingly instances of even 9th class students were found receiving Old Age Pension under the Scheme. A couple of students undergoing PG courses in Universities were found deliciously receiving the old age destitute pension(Annexure-D). This non adherence of basic norms of the scheme also needs to be departmentally probed at the highest possible level for appropriate action against the guilty and immediate dereliction of such beneficiaries from the rolls. If such a situation was allowed to continue and no befitting action was taken against the erring officers/officials, the system is bound to worsen in future. The officers of other concerned Departments who have facilitated the inclusion of non deserving under aged people for coverage under IGNOAPS also need to be treated under law to ensure that such instances are not repeated in future under this and similar other schemes. This undesirable aspect of the scheme implementation, among various other things, again proves that supervisory and monitoring mechanism was unable to function properly within its legitimate jurisdiction.

Category and BPL Status of Beneficiaries:

Though the norms of the scheme aim at universal coverage of old age destitutes without any discrimination on category preference, yet it would be of immense scope to see whether the socially and economically backward sections of the society were adequately provided assistance under the scheme. Further, the norms of the scheme also require that the old aged seeking assistance under IGNOAPS must be BPL/AAY ration card holders. The findings of the field survey in respect of the contacted beneficiaries are depicted hereunder:

Table No - 6 Category and BPL/AAY Status of Beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Category of Sample Beneficiaries BPL/AAY Status Number with Pension Account in Bank

General

OBC SC ST BPL/AAY Card Holders

Non BPL/AAY Card Holders

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1. Samba 352 117 37 185 13 136 216 352 2. Shopian 400 195 191 - 14 290 110 361

Total 752 312 228 185 27 426 326 713 %age to Total - 41% 30% 25% 4% 57% 43% 95%

The data thrown out by the survey is indicative of the fact that all the

categories of the population were provided opportunities to get covered under the scheme. It is a fact that old aged desitutes may exist in any of the social and economic category but the intensity of such cases is more frequent in socially and economically backward pockets of the state. In Samba the maximum number of beneficiaries was from social caste category to the extent of 53% and the remaining categories have also been given coverage. In Shopian, the maximum number of beneficiaries was from the general category to the extent of 49% and the remaining beneficiaries belonged to OBC and ST categories. There was no beneficiary from SC category from Shopian district as the district does not have any SC population. The overall situation in the sample districts shows that 41% beneficiaries belonged to the general category followed by 30% under OBC category and 25% in respect of SC category. The remaining 4% were from ST category.

Among basic norms of the scheme, it had been stated that destitutes

seeking assistance under IGNOAPS must be BPL/AAY ration card holders. However, the status of the destitute could also be ascertained by means of a certificate issued by the concerned revenue authorities. During the field survey it was established that only 57% of the beneficiaries from contacted ones possessed the BPL/AAY ration card and the remaining 43% aggregating to 326 were not having it.

Beneficiaries Family Composition: The assistance under IGNOAPS is available for old aged destitutes having little or no regular means of substance from his/her own source of income or through the other members of the family. Thus the family composition and family support indirectly forms a norm under the scheme for determining the eligibility. Keeping this fact in view the study was designed with an appropriate provision to ascertain the family composition of beneficiaries together with the support/dependant parameters. This among other things would also establish how far the assistance provided under the scheme would ensure social security to the beneficiaries and the family dependent on them.

Table No - 7 Family composition of Beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number having family size Number having dependent members

Number of dependant

family members (1-3)

Members

(4-5) Members

(6-8) Members

Above 9 members

Total Number of Family Members

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1. Samba 352 131 116 93 12 1501 304 993

2. Shopian 400 62 98 185 55 2409 321 1389 Total 752 193 214 278 67 3910 625 2382

%age to Total - 26% 28% 37% 9% 5 ( Average) 83% 4 ( Average)

Table 7 shows that among 752 beneficiaries contacted, 26% were

having family size of 1-3 members, 28% had family size of 4-5 members, 37% had a family size of 6-8 members and 9% had a family size of above 9 members. At an average every beneficiary was having a family size of 5 members. A total of 625 beneficiaries which constituted 83% of the contacted ones were having dependent family members at an average of 4 members per beneficiary. Though the family size of beneficiaries had nothing to do with the scheme modalities and norms governing it, yet it may provide an insight to the policy makers to reconsider the quantum of assistance on the basis of ground realities. The scheme provides security to the individual beneficiary alone treating him/her in isolation, but the fact realized on ground was otherwise. The maximum number of beneficiaries to the extent of 83% had to shoulder the burden of other family members also at an average of 4 members. This aspect also necessitates the policy makers to bear in mind the ground realities engulfing the Old Aged Destitutes while deliberating upon the quantum of assistance aiming at providing social security. Monthly Income of Beneficiaries:

The income of the old aged is the basic factor determining the eligibility of persons for coverage under IGNOAPS. The possession of BPL/AAY ration card or income certificate by the Revenue authorities are the requirements for determining the income status alone. The Department of Social Welfare is expected to sanction pension only in favour of those who had provided documentary support of being eligible for coverage under the scheme. But for the purposes of evaluation, the departmental claims had to withstand the actual ground realities. The evaluation audit relies on field findings rather than documents for drawing inferences and conclusions in support or otherwise of the scheme successes and failures. Accordingly, the income status of contacted beneficiaries was ascertained by applying all possible measures including the observations, personal contacts and of course the statements of village headmen, Anganwari Workers etc. The income assessment of beneficiaries is, however, subjective for obvious reasons and accuracy of the data on the subject is not stressed. The following table provides information on the monthly income of beneficiaries classified under 7 different ranges:-

Table No - 8 Monthly income of beneficiaries

S.no

Sample District

Number of Sample Beneficiaries contacted

Beneficiaries having monthly income in Rs Below Rs 3000/-

Rs 3000--4000/- Rs 4000--5000/- Rs 5000--6000/- Rs 6000--7000/- Rs 7000--9000/- Above Rs 10000/-- (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1 Samba 352 265 36 8 1 2 5 5 2 Shopian 400 239 85 16 21 12 9 18

Total 752 504 121 24 22 14 14 23 %age - 67% 16% 3% 3% 2% 2% 3%

The field observations were mostly suggestive of the fact that

maximum number of beneficiaries belonged to the poor families but the instances of economically moderate families managing coverage under IGNOAPS were also there. For instance, in Shopian district a couple of beneficiaries were the parents of the two serving Govt Employees each which implies that they were not eligible as per the scheme norms(Annexure–D). At least 3% of the beneficiaries were seen from those families which had a monthly income of more than Rs 10,000/- from known sources. This again warrants proper screening and vigil by the implementing Department. Even after sanctioning of cases under the scheme, if non-eligibility is noticed, there should be no hesitation in weeding out such cases for realizing the basic objectives of the scheme. Such timely action would also bear healthy signals for ensuring transparency in the sanctioning of the cases in future.

Submission of Application and Sanctioning:

Under modalities of the scheme, the eligible desirous people are required to apply for coverage under IGNOAPS in the respective social welfare offices. The documentary proof of age, BPL/Destitute status must also be submitted with the application. Once the applications are received these are placed before the sanctioning Committee constituted under the chairmanship of concerned District Development Commissioner for accord of sanction and subsequently the pension starts. While interacting with the beneficiaries, they were asked to state as to how they came to know about the IGNOAPS scheme. The response of the beneficiaries is presented in the following table. It needs mention here that a good number of beneficiaries have reported multiple sources of awareness about the scheme which finally led them to apply for coverage:-

Table No - 9 Sources of awareness of beneficiaries about the scheme

S.no

Sample District

Number of Sample Beneficiaries contacted

Number of Beneficiaries reporting about source of awareness

Radio

TV

AWW

Social Welfare

VLW/ Panchayat

Village Head

News paper

Others

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) 1 Samba 352 43 51 4 93 136 98 4 53 2 Shopian 400 10 5 90 223 14 29 2 27

Total 752 53 56 94 316 150 127 6 80 %age - - - - - - - - -

As reported by the beneficiaries, the Social Welfare Department

had been the basic source of awareness about the scheme for maximum number followed by VLW/Village Panchayat. The Village Headman and Anganwari workers had also been the source of awareness to a sizeable number of beneficiaries. The other sources were Radio, TV and Newspapers. In fact the awareness about a particular scheme plays a vital role in its success in many ways. It ensures transparency to a great extent and provides an opportunity to the general public to closely monitor the delivery of goods and Services being undertaken under it. The awareness of the scheme also ensures the identification of genuine and bonafide beneficiaries in order of merit. But it needs to be noted with caution that awareness of beneficiaries of a particular programme is virtually no indicator of progress on this score. But instead the awareness among the non-beneficiaries/general public would be the appropriate test of successful campaign of awareness undertaken as a part of the scheme implementation.

Time Taken in Sanctioning of Cases:

Radio53 (75%)

TV56 (7%)

Anganwari Worker94 (13%)

Social Welfare Deptt316 (42%)

VLW/Panchayat150 (20%)

Village Headmen127 (17%)

Newspaper6 (1%)

Other80 (11%)

Source of information about IGNOAPS reported by sample beneficiaries

In order to have an assessment of the speedy disposal of IGNOAPS cases in the Social Welfare Department, the beneficiaries were asked to state the time taken in sanctioning of cases. The response of the beneficiaries is presented in the following table:-

Table No - 10 Time Taken in Sanctioning of Cases

S.no

Sample District

Number of Sample Beneficiaries contacted

Number reporting time taken in sanctioning of cases

Below 6 months 6-12

Months 12-18 Months

More than 18 Months

Recall Lapse

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 1 Samba 352 123 195 17 17 - 2 Shopian 400 190 143 49 13 05

Total 752 313 338 66 30 05 %age - 41% 45% 9% 4% 1%

Out of 752 contacted beneficiaries across the two sample

districts, 313 stated to have got their cases sanctioned from the Department within six months and 338 have managed their cases sanctioned within a period ranging from 6 to 12 months. Thus in aggregate 651 beneficiaries which constituted 86% of the contacted beneficiaries had got their cases sanctioned under IGNOAPS in less than 12 months after submitting applications. Out of the remaining, 66 beneficiaries reported that a time span of 12-18 months was taken, 30 stated a time span of more than 18 months within which their cases were finalized in the Department. 5 beneficiaries could not recall the actual time taken in the settlement of their cases. The disposal of the cases by the Social Welfare Department, in so far as time taken is concerned was moderately satisfactory. However, the speedy disposal of cases should not result in indiscriminate sanctioning of cases without any regard to rules, regulations and norms governing the scheme. As already indicated in the report 204 beneficiaries constituting 18% of the basic sample were not traced in the field and evidently were treated as fictitious cases. From the remaining cases, 100 constituting 13% of the contacted beneficiaries were under aged in contravention of the scheme norms. In respect of Shopain district, there were 11 cases who were in the sanctioned list of cases but had not received the pension. All these instances suggest that no proper scrutiny mechanism was in place in the Social Welfare Department which would have ensured sanctioning of bonafide cases alone. Mere sanctioning and speedy disposal of cases with least regard for modalities and norms of the scheme is not desirable. For maintaining transparency in the sanctioning of cases and ensuring that only bonafide persons are covered under the scheme, a proper supervisory/scrutiny system must be put in place. For that purpose manpower requirements of the Department must be considered on

priority. The services of Anganwari Workers being the grass root level functionaries would be of tremendous scope in identifying and verification of case with reference to the norms of the scheme.

Procedure under IGNOAPS:

The procedure of delivery under a particular scheme warrants to

be simple but under proper checks and balances for ensuring transparency and adherence of norms. Under IGNOAPS, the procedure is simple and if transparency is maintained by all others involved directly or indirectly with the implementation of the scheme, it would be able to realize its objectives at least to the extent of available resources. But the field study had brought some unhealthy facets to the fore which unambiguously suggested that transparency was not maintained to the desired level. The views of contacted beneficiaries were also obtained on the procedure being followed in the Social Welfare Department for finalization of IGNOAPS cases. Their views are expressed in quantitative terms in the following table:-

Below 6 months

41%

6-12 months45%

12-18 months9%

More than 18 months

4%

Recall lapse1%

Time taken in sanctioning of IGNOAPS cases reported by sample beneficiaries in %age terms

Table No - 11

Views of beneficiaries on procedure S.no

District

Number of Sample Beneficiaries contacted

Number of beneficiaries reporting about procedure

Number reporting about payment

Easy

Cum

bers

ome

Leng

thy

Requ

iring

Ap

proa

ch

Requ

iring

Mon

ey

Requ

iring

Su

ppor

t

Mont

hly

Quar

terly

Year

ly

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) 1 Samba 352 187 33 123 48 - 43 16 335 1 2 Shopian 400 147 70 165 18 4 - 84 305 -

Total 752 334 103 288 66 4 43 100 640 1 %age - 44% 14% 38% 9% - 6% 13% 85% -

Out of 752 contacted beneficiaries, 334 beneficiaries described the

procedure of sanctioning as easy whileas 14% stated it cumbersome and 38% regarded the procedure lengthy. 66 beneficiaries which constituted 9% stated that it needs approach to get IGNOAPS cases sanctioned from the Social Welfare Department. 4 beneficiaries from Shopian district and 43 beneficiaries from Samba expressed that money and support were required for sanctioning of cases otherwise one has to undergo lengthy and cumbersome process.

Regarding payment of pension 100 beneficiaries i.e. 13% stated that

the payment was being made to them on monthly basis whileas majority of them i.e. 85% informed that payments were mostly released/provided on quarterly basis. 11 beneficiaries of Shopian district stated that till date they have not received any pension though their name figures in the list of pension holders under IGNOAPS. List of such beneficiaries is provided in “Annexure C” of this report for facilitating departmental enquiry. It needs special mention here that evaluation studies are launched with specific purposes and objectives which require it to confine its jurisdiction to the fulfillment of its purposes and objectives alone. Secondly the evaluation agency commands no mandate to scan though the records of other offices for undertaking the study. Instead it obtains data/information on the subject under evaluation and substantiates it in the field through observations, inspections and direct interaction with the stakeholders. In the process if evaluation agency prima facie finds any misappropriation, fraud, scandal, deviation etc. departmental enquiry is generally recommended. The concerned department at the higher level commands the authority to probe any matter relating to its jurisdiction whether of administrative, financial or normative nature. After releasing the report the evaluation agency has the mandate to ask the concerned Department to furnish follow up action on the findings and recommendations of the report for apprising the Govt in the Planning and Development Department.

Mode of Payment:

In beneficiary oriented schemes the mode of payment/delivery is of great importance. These schemes are most vulnerable to misappropriations unless proper safeguards are provided in the modalities of the scheme for ensuring transparency. It is in the backdrop of this phenomena that the Govt now contemplates to release every kind of subsidy/incentive to the beneficiaries in the form of direct cash transfer through their respective Bank Accounts/ Adhar Cards. The IGNOAPS also provides that Pension to the beneficiaries would be distributed through Payees Bank Account on monthly/quarterly basis after properly checking their identity cards issued to them for receipt of pension. To substantiate it in the field, the beneficiaries were enquired, the responses are reproduced in the following table:-

Table No -12 Mode of Payment to beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number having Pension account in Bank

Number of beneficiaries reporting mode of payment

Bank Post Office

Cheque Cash No Payment

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) 1. Samba 352 352 352 - - - - 2. Shopian 400 361 389 - - - 11 Total 752 713 741 - - - 11

%age to Total - 95% 99% - - - 1%

Easy44%

Cumbersome14%

Lengthy38%

Requiring Approach

9%

While interacting with the beneficiaries on the issue, 713 out of 752 contacted beneficiaries constituting 95% stated to have pension accounts in the bank. However, 99% stated that they were receiving their pension dues through bank and no one was reported to be receiving it through Post Office, Cheque or in cash form. 11 contacted beneficiaries from Shopian district denied to have ever received any pension in spite of being the beneficiaries of the scheme as per official records. Further from the depicted information it seems that 28 beneficiaries from Shopian district were managing pension through Bank without any pension account. This is clear violation of norms and needs to be looked into by the Implementing department. Benefits of Pension:

The IGNOAPS is basically a social security scheme with the endeavor to extend a helping hand to those who economically and socially are helpless to survive. It provides a fixed amount of money regardless of the needs and circumstance of the target population. It is a type of burden sharing nature scheme expected to save majority of the targeted population from social and economic disaster. During the field operations, the evaluation teams obtained the views of the beneficiaries as per pre-devised plan about the benefits realized by them by obtaining a pension of Rs 400/- per month. These views are reproduced hereunder on a devised scale of benefits alongwith related frequency.

Table No -13 Benefits accruing to beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number of beneficiaries reporting about the benefits of Pension

Social Protection

Economic Protection

Honour & Dignity

Saved from Begging

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) 1. Samba 352 135 227 29 47 2. Shopian 400 151 157 57 05

Total 752 286 384 86 52

%age to Total - 38% 51% 11% 7% ( Multiple benefits reported)

As per expected lines the majority of beneficiaries were feeling

themselves socially and economically secure as a result of pension being provided to them. 286 out 752 beneficiaries were feeling socially secure otherwise their social position would have been disastrous. Likewise 384 beneficiaries constituting 51% of the contacted ones expressed themselves economically protected by getting coverage under the scheme. 11% beneficiaries reported to have maintained

their honour and dignity which otherwise would not have been possible in the given circumstances. 52 beneficiaries across the sample districts which constituted 7% of the contacted persons accepted that the pension scheme saved them from begging and thus was instrumental in protecting their honour and dignity.

Utilization of Pension:

As already stated that the amount of pension aims at extending a helping hand to the needy old aged destitutes. It shares the burden of expenditure which naturally would vary depending upon the priority and immediate needs of the individual beneficiaries. Further 83% beneficiaries were reported having dependant family of the average magnitude of 4 members. This factor also would naturally determine the utilization profile of pension money to a great extent. In the following table the expenditure profile of the pension money is depicted based on the feedback of contacted beneficiaries.

Social Protection

Economic Protection

Honour & Dignity

Saved from Begging

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Social Protection286 (38%)

Economic Protection384 (51%)

Honor & Dignity86 (11%)

Saved from Begging52 (7%)

Impact of IGNOAPS schme upon sample benficiaries as reported by them

Table No -14 Utilization of Pension by beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Utilization of Assistance

Number of beneficiaries reporting about expenditure of assistance

Personal Use

Family Use

Food Items

Clothing

Medicines

Future Saving

Day to day expenses

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1. Samba 352 277 75 156 26 87 9 147 2. Shopian 400 298 91 69 12 162 4 190 Total 752 575 166 225 38 249 13 337

%age to Total - 76% 22% 30% 5% 33% 2% 45%

While giving details of expenditure of the assistance provided under

IGNOAPS, the beneficiaries were asked to indicate the main items which happened the priority expenditure items of pension money. The aggregate information is suggestive of the fact that day to day expenditure had been stated by the maximum number of beneficiaries followed by expenditure on medicines and food items. 13 beneficiaries constituting 2% of the contacted beneficiaries stated to have saved some pension money for future eventualities. Though 83% of the contacted beneficiaries had dependant family members, yet only 22% of them reported to have utilized the pension money for family requirements in view of it being very meagre. 575 beneficiaries constituting 76% of the contacted number were using pension money exclusively for personal uses. While commenting on the scope of pension, the beneficiaries expressed many more favourable aspects of the scheme. Some stated to have become self dependant and some others had managed health care facilities for themselves which otherwise was difficult for them. Satisfaction, Problems and Suggestions:

The beneficiary/user satisfaction is regarded as the most important

parameter of gauging the successfulness of a scheme/programmme. As such in every evaluation study the satisfaction level of beneficiaries is being measured in respect of different aspects of the scheme. It provides a reliable feedback to the implementing Department as well to identify the weak areas/leakages in the implementation process for plugging them in future. In the instant evaluation study, the satisfaction of beneficiaries was obtained on different phases of the scheme starting from identification to the disbursement. The following table reflects the strong and weak aspects of IGNOAPS in terms of number of beneficiaries expressing satisfaction or otherwise on various facets of the scheme.

Table No -15 Satisfaction of beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number of beneficiaries reporting satisfied with

Identification

Sanctioning

Amount of Pension

Regularity of Payment

Easy Disbursement

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 1. Samba 352 168 65 15 91 79 2. Shopian 400 311 72 - 8 11 Total 752 479 137 15 99 90

%age to Total - 64% 18% 2% 13% 12%

The beneficiary satisfaction level could be seen miserably low in

respect of all the different phases/facets of the scheme except the identification process which claimed satisfaction of 64% contacted beneficiaries. The sanctioning of cases, amount of pension, regularity of payment and easy disbursement of pension have claimed the satisfaction of limited number of beneficiaries which should be a cause of concern for the implementing Department. The Department must take a review of the implementation process at the highest administrative level. They must identify the lacuna/sluggishness in the process of implementation and take all administrative, monitoring and other measures for improving the implementation efficiency of the Department. The periodical reviews must be the regular feature of the monitoring and controlling authorities for assessment of the implementation scenario and appropriate directions must be passed on in case there emerges any lacuna in the efficient delivery of assistance. The above table, among other things, reflects a very low satisfaction level in respect of the amount of pension which is Rs 400/- per month in J&K State. This low satisfaction level necessitates that it should undergo a revision atleast to the extent of minimum per capita consumer expenditure necessary for survival of an individual.

Identification of Problems:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Identification

Sanctioning

Amount of Pension

Regularity of …

Easy Disbursement

64%18%

2%13%

12%

Percentage of sample beneficiaries reporting satisfied withPercentage of sample beneficiaries reporting satisfied with

The evaluation of a programme/scheme provides an opportunity to the Implementing Department to have an unbiased feedback on the problems/bottlenecks together with the recommended measures to set the programme on the right track. The evaluation process, particularly, the outside evaluation acts as a third party assessment, most likely to provide unbiased picture of the programme achievements, failures and the related causes. It facilitates corrective measures for enhancing the implementation efficiency, provided the concerned Department accepts the ground realities in the right perspective. In the instant study, efforts were made to locate/identify the problems and bottlenecks of the scheme for facilitating corrective action by the concerned. From the beneficiary perspective, the problems which tell badly on the efficient character of IGNOAPS are provided hereunder alongwith the frequency of beneficiaries.

Table No -16

Beneficiaries citing problems/Bottlenecks.

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number of beneficiaries reporting about problems/bottlenecks

Huge Time

Involved

Political interferenc

e

Money Bribe

Irregular payments

Meagre amount of pension

Uneasy disbursem

ent (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) 1. Samba 352 60 44 10 71 291 4 2. Shopian 400 104 3 02 - 370 35 Total 752 164 47 12 71 661 39

%age to Total - 22% 6% 2% 9% 88% 5% The meagre amount of pension was regarded as the basic problem of

the scheme by 88% of the enquired beneficiaries, particularly in view of huge inflationary trends which took place in the recent past. Though the rate of pension has undergone many revisions in J&K State since its lauch but the fact remains that the initial rate of pension was just a token provision of 75/- w.e.f. 15th August 1995 to March, 2006. From April 2006 to March 2008 it was raised to Rs 200/-. Then from April 2008 the sate Govt also provided its share of Rs 125/- thus raising the total amount of Pension to Rs 325/- till October 2010. The current rate of Rs 400/- is effective from Nov 2010 as a result of enhancement of state share to the extent of Rs 200/-. The Central Share of Rs 200/- per month continues to remain unchaged since April 2006. 164 out of 752 beneficiaries were of the view that huge time involved in sanctioning and finalization of cases was another problem which needs immediate attention of the Implementing Department. The unhealthy practice of political interference in the scheme implementation was regarded as one of the problems by 6% of the beneficiaries. The other problems cited by the beneficiaries were corruption, irregular payments and uneasy disbursements. However, these problems were stated by a limited number of beneficiaries and as such were treated as particular in nature.

Suggestions of Beneficiaries: The beneficiaries being the prime stakeholders of the scheme, were asked to put forth appropriate suggestions for effecting improvements in the scheme enabling it to fulfill the postulated objectives. The Implementing Department within their resources and jurisdiction might consider these suggestions in the right perspective and act-upon the suggestions for better results. The suggestions offered by the beneficiaries are detailed below:-

Table No -17

Beneficiaries Offering Suggestions.

S.no

District

Number of beneficiaries contacted

Number of beneficiaries offering suggestions Number in favour of continuation of scheme

En

ha

nce

men

t of

Pen

sion

Tra

nsp

are

ncy

in

Id

enti

fica

tion

Sim

plic

ity

of

Pro

cess

Reg

ula

r P

aym

ents

Ea

sy

Dis

bu

rsem

ent

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) 1. Samba 352 316 43 45 95 24 338 2. Shopian 400 399 77 - 7 80 398 Total 752 715 120 45 102 104 736

%age to Total - 95% 16% 6% 14% 14% 98%

From the enquired beneficiaries, 736 which constituted 98% of the

total were in favour of the continuation of the scheme in view of its care

Huge Time Involved164 (22%)

Political Interference47 (6%) Money Bribe

12 (2%)

Irregular Payments71 (9%)

Meagre Amount Of Pension

661 (88%)

Uneasy Disbursement

39 (5%)

Weaknesses/Drawbacks in IGNOAPS scheme as reported by

taking character. However, some suggestions were offered by them for enhancing the efficiency of the scheme and enabling it to fulfill the objectives in the present economic and social scenario. The most intensified suggestion put forth by the beneficiaries was the enhancement in the rate of pension which continues to be meagre for the just survival of an individual. The inflation that has taken place over the years in the economy very strongly justifies the suggestion to be acted-upon preferably with the retrospective effect. The other suggestions offered by the beneficiaries included ensuring of transparency in identification, simplifying of process, regular payments and easy disbursement. Deserving Non-Beneficiaries: One of the objectives of the evaluation study was to assess the ground realities with regard to the coverage of the scheme. Accordingly, the sample was selected on area approach basis in order to have an assessment of the old aged destitutes still uncovered under the scheme. In the selected villages/wards, besides interviewing all the beneficiaries enlisted in the frame as stood on 31-03-2012, all the deserving non-beneficiaries were brought within the ambit of the study by using a separate schedule for them. This was done to have a reliable estimate of deserving persons still uncovered under the scheme and also to get non-beneficiary feedback about the scheme and its implementation. Instead of going for house listing of villages/wards for locating the BPL families/destitutes, the services of Anganwari Workers/village Headmen were utilized as source of information on the subject. The number of uncovered old aged destitutes located in the sample villages/wards is detailed below with gender and age distribution:-

Table No- 18

Number of Deserving un-covered destitutes

S.no

District

Villages/ Wards Surveyed

Number of Uncovered Destitutes located

Gender Age of Un-Covered Destitutes

Male Female 65-70 Years

70-80 Years

80-90 Years

90-100 Years

Above 100 Years

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) 1 Samba 70 265 160 105 176 72 15 2 -

2 Shopian 62 162 88 74 111 38 10 2 1

Total 132 427 248 179 187 110 25 4 1 %age - - 58% 42% 67% 26% 6% 1% -

In the surveyed villages/wards, there were 1139 persons covered

under the IGNOAPS scheme as per frame submitted by the Social Welfare Department by the end of March 2012. While undertaking the field survey it was established that 204 enlisted beneficiaries were not traced in the field and pending departmental enquiry these cases were treated as fictitious cases for the purposes of this study. 129 more

beneficiaries were found dead on the date of survey and were to be weeded out from the live list of beneficiaries. Thus in the surveyed villages/wards the enrolled/covered beneficiaries were only of the magnitude of 806 including the beneficiaries not contacted due to their shifting to Behaks. Against this quantum of beneficiaries, the survey located 427 uncovered deserving old aged destitutes in the selected villages/wards. Thus these simple estimates brought this fact to the light that the coverage of scheme was only 65% and the remaining 35% deserving persons were still uncovered under the scheme. While analyzing the facts it could be concluded that the Department could have easily attained full coverage of the deserving persons within the available resources provided there would have been promptness and transparency in the sanctioning of cases. The dead beneficiaries should have been weeded-out and the non-traceable/fictitious cases winded up which in aggregate would have paved way for 333 more persons for inclusion under the scheme in the sample area.

The Gender Combination of these deserving uncovered non-

beneficiaries was 58:42 in favour of males. 67% of them belonged to the age group of 65-70 and 26% to the age group of 70-80. The remaining were aged beyond 80 years with a single person crossing the century mark.

Social and Economic Status of Non-Beneficiaries:

As per stipulated procedure of the instant study, the services of AWWs/village Headmen were utilized for locating the old aged destitutes not covered under IGNOAPS. But actually their inclusion as deserving non-beneficiaries under the survey was made only after judging them as such on socio economic and normative factors. The AWW/Headmen only facilitated the identity. The category character and monthly income of these destitute families is reported below:-

Table 19 Category, BPL Status and Monthly income of Non-beneficiaries

S.no

District

Number of Uncovered deserving Destitutes

Category Status BPL Status Monthly Income of Destitute Families

Gene

ral

OBC

SC

ST

BPL

Card

Ho

lder

s

Not B

PL C

ard

ho

lder

s Be

low

Rs

3000

/- Rs 30

00

-Rs 40

00/- Rs 400

0 -

Rs 50

00/- Rs 500

0 -

Rs 60

00/- Rs 600

0 -

Rs 70

00/-

Abov

e Rs

5000

/-

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

1 Samba 265 80 36 139 10 251 14 220 30 13 2 - -

2 Shopian 162 96 61 - 5 147 15 83 78 - 1 - -

Total 427 176 97 139 15 398 29 303 108 13 3 - - %age - 41% 23% 33% 4% 93% 7% 71% 25% 3% 1% - -

The data reflected above shows that the uncovered deserving

person belonged to all the social category groups. Out of 427 non covered destitutes in the selected villages/wards, 41% belonged to the general category, 23% to OBC, 33% to SC and remaining 4% to the schedules Tribe Category. 398 such persons were BPL card holders also and only a small number of 29 persons constituting 7% of the total strength were without BPL status as per official version. The monthly income of destitute families to which these old aged belonged do justify their inclusion in the beneficiary rolls. 303 families of such person were reported having a monthly income of less than Rs .3000/- and 108 other families were earning in between Rs 3000/- to Rs 4000/- Per month. Thus in aggregate 96% of the identified old aged detitutes of the non beneficiary category were earning below Rs 4000/- per month. The remaining 16 destitute families constituting 4% of the total were having a monthly income of Rs 4000/- to Rs 6000/-. The assessment of monthly income of these families was basically the estimation done on the statements of concerned persons which was related to the nature of job pursued by family members together with appropriate weightage given to house, land holding and household belongings. However, the estimations could be subjective and for the purpose of coverage under IGNOAPS documentary proofs were inevitable. Physical Status and Family Support:

The evaluation teams have also observed and recorded the physical status of the uncovered destitutes together with the family support they were presently enjoying. The emerging social system is underlying need of schemes like IGNOAPS to enable the old aged to sustain in case of illness, isolation etc. The old age by itself renders people helpless and if associated with illness, poverty and isolation, the problems accrue beyond imagination. In these circumstances it would be moral, legal and social responsibility of the Govt to come to the rescue of these people. There should be special drives conducted to register such people for award of pension rather than waiting for applications to pour in. The following table provides information on the physical status of non-beneficiaries and the family support they were enjoying.

Table 20

Physical status and Family Support of Non-beneficiaries.

S.no

District

Number of deserving Non-beneficiaries contacted

Number of Non-beneficiaries with physical status

Number of Non-beneficiaries with family Support

Sound Weak Ill Handicapped

Good Inadequate

Poor Left Alone

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) 1. Samba 265 31 198 25 13 51 47 155 12 2. Shopian 162 12 86 55 9 36 45 64 17 Total 427 43 284 80 22 87 92 219 29

%age to Total - 10% 66% 19% 5% 20% 22% 51% 7%

The physical status of uncovered destitutes was obtained by simple

observation and position of family support was based on the statements of the concerned. Out of 427 Non-beneficiaries, only 43 persons constituting 10% were seen sound and the remaining 90% were either weak, ill or handicapped. This state of situation warrants that their coverage under IGNOAPS must be ensured in near future. In the same manner only 20% of them have reported good family support and the remaining 80% were experiencing inadequate or poor support. Even 29 old aged destitutes constituting 7% of the total were left alone by their families. This unpleasant family attitude of the deserving destitutes puts additional weight on their claim for coverage under the scheme over and above their destitution. Awareness, Applications and reasons for non-coverage:

The complete awareness of the scheme among the masses, particularly the target group of population paves way for successful implementation. It is in the backdrop of this fact that provision for awareness and publicity is being kept in the modalities of the schemes. Now electronic and print media is widely being used for the purpose to enable people to take advantage of the development and welfare schemes or at least act as watchdogs on the implementation process of the schemes. In order to know the basic cause of non coverage-ness of the deserving destitutes, their awareness about the IGNOAPS was ascertained together with the submission of applications, if any. The responses reflecting the level of awareness are tabulated hereunder:-

Table NO-21 Awareness, Applications and reasons for not applying under IGNOAPS

S.no

District

Number of Uncovered deserving Destitutes

Number aware about

IGNOAPS

Number applied for coverage

Reasons for not applying under IGNOAPS

Awar

e

Not a

ware

Appl

ied

Not

Appl

ied

No

Appr

oach

Leng

thy

Proc

ess

Meag

re

Amou

nt

No h

ope o

f Sa

nctio

n

Socia

l Hi

ndra

nces

Fam

ily

Hind

ranc

es

No o

ne to

Gu

ide

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) 1 Samba 265 198 67 85 113 49 23 8 24 4 2 94

2 Shopian 162 51 111 24 27 14 5 1 3 - - 3

Total 427 249 178 109 140 63 28 9 27 4 2 97 %age - 58% 42% 44% 52% 25% 11% 4% 11% 2% 1% 39%

( Note - some have given multiple reasons). The field study revealed that out of 427 located uncovered

destitutes in the sample villagers/wards, only 58% were aware of the scheme. For the remaining 42% destitutes non awareness naturally was the basic cause for them not to apply for coverage under IGNOAPS. In respect of 249 destitutes reported aware of the scheme, only 109 had applied for coverage under it and remaining 140 constituting 52% of the aware destitutes stated to have never applied for coverage owing to multiple reasons major of them were “No Approach” , “NO one to Guide” , “Lengthy Process”, “Meagre Amount” and “No Hope of Sanction”. A small portion of them have cited social hindrances and family hindrances as the main causes responsible for not applying under the scheme. Present Status of Applied Cases:

From the uncovered destitutes located across the sample

villages/wards, 109 had virtually applied for assistance under IGNOAPS. The present status of these cases was also ascertained from them which revealed that most of these cases were under process. The following table en-lights the scenario clearly:-

Table No 22 Non- Beneficiary Destitutes applying under IGNOAPS

S.no

District

Number of Non-beneficiaries applied for coverage

Present Status

Number having applied before

Number citing reasons for Rejection

Unde

r Pro

cess

Rejec

ted

6 Mon

ths

12 M

onth

s

18 M

onth

s

More

than

18

mon

ths

Non

Fulfi

llmen

t of

Need

s Ap

proa

ch

Need

s Brib

e

Non

Elig

ible

Assu

red

cove

rage

in

futu

re

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) 1 Samba 85 74 11 23 21 7 34 3 4 - 3 1

2 Shopian 24 16 8 5 12 4 3 - 6 - - 2

Total 109 90 19 28 33 11 37 3 10 - 3 3 %age - 83% 17% 26% 30% 10% 34% 16% 52% - 16% 16%

As per the information provided by the enquired persons, 90 cases

constituting 83% of the total applications were under process in the Social Welfare Department whileas the remaining 19 applications were rejected on various grounds which included non fulfillment of formalities and non-eligibility as genuine reasons. 10 persons have stated that their applications were rejected unwarrantedly for want of necessary approach while 3 others stated to have been given assurance for coverage in future.

As the scheme is allocation driven, the Implementing Department

can’t go beyond a certain limit of cases. It had no option but to restrict the number of beneficiaries within the available financial resources and estimated ceiling set by the Govt of India. It could at the most replace weeded out beneficiaries occurring due to death etc. The Govt, at the appropriate level must enhance the financial resources and the estimated ceiling for the scheme to enable all the eligible and needy destitutes to get coverage under the scheme. Second option for the Govt is to strictly ensure the transparent implementation of the scheme. If only bonafide beneficiaries are covered under the scheme, there would not be much shortage of resources for coverage of all eligible destitutes at current rate of pension. The instant field enquiry brought this fact to the fore that 29% of the beneficiaries shown on the list as on 31-3-2012 were either dead or untraced/fictitious. Another contingent of 100 beneficiaries which constituted 9% of the total sample were under aged. Thus the Implementing Department could weed out roughly almost 38% of its beneficiaries on the reasons of death, non-eligibility and fictitious nature. Thus could easily replace them by those eligible persons kept away from the ambit of the scheme for want of adequate financial resources. Feedback of Knowledgeable Persons:

In evaluation exercise, the field findings comprising of observations, inspections, interviews and interactions with the stakeholders are the basics for drawing of inferences and conclusions with regard to the successes or failures of the programme/schemes. But this fact can’t be denied that the stakeholders do possess an element of bias which sometimes could affect the drawing of inferences and conclusions positively or negatively. To overcome this deficiency and substantiate the findings through an unbiased source, knowledgeable persons feedback is tapped in the evaluation studies. In the instant study, 3 knowledgeable persons in each selected village/ward were managed to be interviewed with reference to different aspects of IGNOAPS. The selection was done on hit and run method and any choosen person if found unaware of the scheme was allowed to drop behind and only aware persons were choosen for providing the required feedback. Their views are analyzed in the ensuing paras:-

Table No- 23

Knowledgeable Persons(KP’s) feedback on IGNOAPS

S.no

District

Number of KPs selected/ contacted

Number of Knowledgeable Persons(KP’s) viewing the

Identification Transparent

Identification Simple

Rate of Pension Sufficient

Payments regular

Timely Payments

Scheme provides social security

All eligible covered in village/Ward

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1. Samba 216 175 164 9 37 27 126 46 2. Shopian 136 84 60 8 60 31 136 3 Total 352 259 224 17 97 58 262 49

%age to Total - 74% 64% 5% 28% 16% 74% 14%

In the selected villages/wards, 352 knowledgeable persons were

selected across the sample districts for providing feedback on the implementation of the scheme under evaluation. In respect of transparency in identification, 74% expressed their views favourably whileas 26% expressed otherwise and cited the instances of non-transparency. Regarding simplicity of identification process, 64% described it as simple with appropriate safeguards. The rate of pension was stated sufficient only by 5% Knowledgeable persons whileas the majority of 95% termed it insufficient at the current price level and recommended early revision in the rate of pension. On regular payments and timely payment of pension, only 28% and 16% Knowledgeable persons were satisfied respectively. In respect of full coverage of all eligible persons under IGNOAPS in their respective villages/wards, only 14% replied positively. The remaining 86% stated that there were many old aged destitutes still uncovered under the scheme in spite of being eligible/desrving under all prescribed norms. Reasons for Non-Coverage:

The Knowledgeable persons were also asked to cite reasons responsible for non coverage of eligible old aged destitutes in their village/ward. The reasons expressed by them do correlate with the reasons put forth by other tapped sources of the evaluation study. The main reasons as per knowledgeable persons perspective were the unawareness and meagre amount of pension. Some other reasons like “Not applied” , “Not Sanctioned” and “no Approach” were also cited for non coverage of eligible destitutes in their village/ward. The picture is reflected in the following table:-

Table No 24 Knowledgeable persons citing reason for Non-Coverage

S.no

District

Number of KPs contacted

Number of Knowledgeable Persons(KP’s) citing reasons for non coverage in their village/ward

Non awareness Not applied Not sanctioned

No Approach Meagre Assistance

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 1. Samba 216 57 52 67 33 29 2. Shopian 136 111 18 10 5 26 Total 352 168 70 77 38 55

%age to Total - 48% 20% 22% 11% 16%

Suggestions for Improvement:

In order to suggest measures for improving the scheme

implementation, views were also sought from the knowledgeable persons. It could be seen that IGNOAPS being of limited scope and limited operative aspects, the suggestions of Knowledgeable persons have also been on expected lines. The ensured transparency in identification and sanctioning, enhancement in the rate of pension were the main suggestions put forth followed by regularity and timely payment of pension in view of the destitution of the beneficiaries. It is hoped that these suggestions would be in the active consideration of the Implementing Department as well. But what is desired is the integrated action by all those involved in the implementation of the scheme. The enhancement in the rate of pension was justified on all parameters and the Govt whether central/state must act at the appropriate level. The revision in the rate is justitfied in view of huge inflation in the economy over the years. The Implementing Department must take stock of its implementation profile and evolve all administrative and monitory measures for ensuring transparency in sanctioning of cases and weeding out of dead/non eligible/fictitious cases to be replaced by those awaiting sanctions under the scheme. The higher level officers must keep a vigil on the functioning of the Department so that the benefits envisaged in the schemes do percolate to the deserving in full and at the earliest.

Effects and Impacts:

The Indira Gandhi Old Age Pensions Scheme (IGNOAPS) is basically a burden sharing scheme and provides a lump sum money of Rs 400/- per month as old age pension. Currently the minimum per capita monthly

expenditure for survival is far higher than Rs 400/-. As such this meagre amount meets a portion of the expenditure borne by the old age destitutes. In respect of the destitutes having dependent family members, the pension amount naturally meets a smaller portion of the expenditure incurred on day to day domestic purposes of the family. In such a situation, it is difficult and almost impossible to measure the net impact of the scheme. However, from the study of various parameters, it transpires that the target population had acquired a breathing space in their day to day expenditure and were feeling a bit comfortable in the society. In the instant study, the influence created by Rs 400/- per month is difficult to be measured when the family which was provided the amount had expended many such amounts to sustain their day to day life. The effects and impacts could however be visualized through other parameters interms of transparency, coverage, disposal of cases, satisfaction level timely payment of pension etc. Need for Revision of Pension:

The scheme was originally launched during 1995 and at that time the assistance envisaged under the scheme was Rs 75/- per month. The assistance was then raised to Rs 200/- from April 2006. In April 2008, the state Govt provided Rs 125/- from its own resources thus enhancing it to Rs 325/-. In November 2010, the State Share was raised to Rs 200/- which pushed the total assistance to Rs 400/- Per month. It could be seen that the assistance has always remained well below the minimum per capita monthly expenditure necessary for survival of an individual. The non satisfaction of the beneficiaries was mostly due to the meagre amount of pension. The non beneficiaries and Knowledgeable persons as well have termed the meagerness of pension as the main problem of the scheme and suggested its early revision. For successful implementation of incentive based schemes, some mechanism is required to be evolved so that assistance provided could be revised on scientific basis periodically, atleast after every five years if not on annual basis. Linking the rate of pension with some suitable Index may provide a solution to this problem. The revision in the rate of pension under IGNOAPS is strongly recommended to enable the scheme to achieve the objectives in an appropriate manner. All the stakeholders have regarded the rate of pension as meagre and majority of them have suggested a revision in the pension in view of decrease in the value of money. Delivery Mechanism:

The IGNOAPS Scheme has limited scope and operational aspects. The delivery mechanism provided in the Scheme is natural and simple, completely in consonance with the requirements. However, the implementation profile of the Scheme observed in the two sample districts, necessitates that the monitoring and controlling authorities should exercise their role strictly to arrest the deviations witnessed at the grass root level, particularly in identification of the cases. The coverage of undeserved people suggests that the identification mechanism of the Scheme is functioning without an effective supervision at the middle or higher level and as such

needs attention of the Department. The system of payments is also of great importance, particularly in beneficiaries oriented schemes. These schemes are most vulnerable to misappropriations unless proper safeguards are provided in the modalities of the Scheme for ensuring transparency. Under the IGNOAPS, pension to the beneficiaries is provided through Payees Bank Account on monthly/quarterly basis. The mechanism provides enough safeguards but needs strict implementation. Eleven beneficiaries from Shopian district have denied to have ever received the pension in spite of being the beneficiaries of the Scheme as per official records. Further 28 beneficiaries from the same district were managing pension through Bank without any pension account. Thus, what is required is the strict adherence of norms by the implementing agency. Equally important is the supervision and control by the higher authorities. The delivery mechanism provided in the I GNOAPS is appropriate and needs only strict implementation and application by the stakeholders.

Chapter V Summary of Main Findings

19) As regards allocation of funds by the Govt under IGNOAPS, it had

throughout been slightly less than the actual requirements in respect of both the sample districts. This state of situation had naturally left no room for the implementing Department to sanction and accommodate new cases but to make replacement of weeded out beneficiaries at the most.

20) In aggregate during the reference period against the requirement of Rs 684.96 lacs, an amount of Rs 619.71 lacs was provided to the sample districts which was less by 10% of the requirements. The utilization of funds in both the sample districts for all financial years of the reference period was 100% or very close to it.

21) The physical progress of the scheme very clearly indicated that the Implementing Department had restricted the coverage of beneficiaries to a certain limit. The yearly allocations made available hardly allowed them to increase the number of beneficiaries. During the reference period, the number of beneficiaries in respect of district Samba was 3416 for 2009-10 and 2010-11 and reduced to 3251 during 2011-12. In respect of district Shopian, the number of beneficiaries remained stagnant at 1383 for all the three years of reference period. Given the fact that the allocations were not demand driven, the Implementing Department had choosen to accommodate new cases to the extent of weeded out beneficiaries on yearly basis.

22) In all during the reference period 2009-10 to 2011-12, the two sample districts managed to accommodate 921 new cases for benefit under IGNOAPS against 1086 weeded out beneficiaries with the result the number of beneficiaries virtually decreased from 4799 in 2009-10 to 4634 in 2011-12. Given the fact that scores of cases were pending in the Social Welfare Department awaiting sanction for coverage, the decrease in the number of beneficiaries was not justified.

23) The beneficiary profile of IGNOAPS brought one more peculiar feature to the fore i.e. the gender combination of beneficiaries. In Samba District, the number of female beneficiaries was more than 60% during all the three years of reference period. In district Shopian, it was in favour of males at a stagnant ratio of 60:40 for all the three years of the reference period. In aggregate by the end of 2011-12,

there were 2624 female beneficiaries against 2010 male beneficiaries in the twin districts at the ratio of 57:43. These figures, among other things, brought this fact to the fore that the female gender of the population is the most vulnerable part of the society needing special concern by the Govt.

24) The field enquiry at the very beginning came across the disturbing situation suggesting casual and non responsible attitude of the Social Welfare Department in implementing the scheme. A handsome number of 204 reported beneficiaries out of 1139 selected for verification which constituted 18% were not traced in the field. The Evaluation Agency has no reason to believe that such enlisted persons were the bonafide beneficiaries under IGNOAPS. Instead they were treated as fictitious cases which needs in-depth departmental enquiry for establishment of facts and fixation of responsibility.

25) Besides non-traceable cases, 129 cases were found dead on the date of survey which suggests that the Implementing Department was not prompt in reporting and consequently in weeding-out the expired beneficiaries from the live list of beneficiaries under IGNOAPS. The Department must put in place all administrative and monitory measures to enhance the legitimate activities of its field functionaries for intime and smooth delivery of assistance under various Social Security Schemes being implemented through it. Intime reporting of expired cases would have also paved way for inclusion of other deserving people within the available financial resources of the Department.

26) The assistance under IGNOAPS is explicitly for destitutes above 65 years of age. The field study conducted across sample districts found that 13% of the contacted beneficiaries were well below the age of 65 years even on the date of survey and would have naturally been much younger at the time of sanctioning. Astonishingly instances of even 9th class students were found receiving old age pension under the scheme. A couple of students undergoing PG courses in Universities were found deliciously receiving the old age destitute pension.

27) The field observations were mostly suggestive of the fact that maximum number of beneficiaries belonged to the poor families but the instances of economically moderate families managing coverage under IGNOAPS were also there. For instance in Shopian district a couple of beneficiaries were the parents of two serving Govt employees each which implies that they were not eligible as per scheme norms.

28) The Social Welfare Department itself had been the basic source of

awareness about the scheme for maximum number of beneficiaries followed by VLW/Village Panchayat. The village headmen and Anganwari Workers have also been the source of awareness to a sizeable number of beneficiaries.

29) Out of 752 contacted beneficiaries across the sample districts, 313 stated to have got their cases sanctioned from the Department within 6 months and 338 have managed their cases sanctioned within a period ranging from 6 months to 12 months. Thus in aggregate 651 beneficiaries which constituted 86% of the contacted beneficiaries have got their cases sanctioned under IGNOAPS in less than 12 months. The disposal of cases in so far as time taken is concerned was moderately satisfactory. However, the speedy disposal of cases should not result in indiscriminate sanctioning without any regard to rules, regulations and norms governing the scheme.

30) Out of 752 contacted beneficiaries, 334 beneficiaries described the procedure of sanctioning as easy whileas 14% stated it cumbersome and 38% regarded the procedure lengthy. 66 beneficiaries which constituted 9% stated that it needs approach to get the IGNOAPS cases sanctioned from the Social Welfare Department. 4 beneficiaries from Shopian and 43 from Samba expressed that money and support were required for sanctioning of cases, otherwise one has to undergo lengthy and cumbersome process.

31) Regarding payment of Pension 100 beneficiaries i.e. 13% stated that the payment was being made to them on monthly basis whileas majority of them i.e. 85% informed that payments were mostly released/provided on quarterly basis. 11 beneficiaries of Shopian district stated that till date they have not received any pension though their name figured in the list of pension holders under IGNOAPS.

32) As per expected lines, the majority of beneficiaries were feeling themselves socially and economically secure as a result of pension being provided to them. 286 out of 752 beneficiaries were feeling socially secure, otherwise their social position would have been disastrous. Likewise 384 beneficiaries constituting 51% of contacted ones expressed themselves economically protected by getting coverage under the scheme. 11% beneficiaries reported to have maintained their honour and dignity which otherwise would not have been possible in the given circumstances.

33) The beneficiary satisfaction level was miserably low in respect of all

the different phases/facets of the scheme except the identification process which claimed satisfaction of 64% contacted beneficiaries. The process of sanctioning of cases, amount of pension, regularity of payments have claimed the satisfaction of limited number of beneficiaries. The Department must take a review of the implementation process at the highest administrative level. They must identify the lacunas/sluggishness in the process of implementation and take all administrative, monitory and other measures for improving the implementation efficiency of the Department.

34) Regarding the amount of Pension, only 15 beneficiaries constituting just 2% were satisfied over it which is currently Rs 400/- per month in J&K. This low satisfaction level necessitates that it should undergo a revision at the earliest.The meagre amount of Pension was regarded as the basic problem of the scheme by 88% of the enquired beneficiaries, particularly in view of huge inflationary trends which took place in the recent past.

35) From the enquired beneficiaries, 736 which constituted 98% of the total were in favour of the scheme to be continued in view of its care taking character. However, some suggestions were offered by them for enhancing the efficiency of the scheme and enabling it to fulfill the objectives in the present economic and social scenario. The most intensified suggestion putforth by the beneficiaries was the enhancement in the rate of Pension.

36) In the surveyed villages/wards, the bonafide covered beneficiaries were only of the magnitude of 806 including those 54 beneficiaries who were not contacted due to their shifting to Behaks. Against this quantum of beneficiaries, the survey located 427 uncovered deserving old aged destitutes in the selected villages/wards. Thus these simple estimates brought this fact to the fore that the coverage of scheme was only 65% and the remaining 35% deserving persons were still uncovered under the scheme.

37) The field survey revealed that out of 427 located uncovered destitutes in the sample villages/wards, only 58% were aware of the IGNOAPS. For the remaining 42% destitutes, non-awareness naturally was the basic cause for them not applying for coverage under the scheme. In respect of 249 destitutes reported aware of the scheme, only 109 had applied for coverage under it and the remaining 140 constituting 52%

of the aware destitutes stated to have never applied for coverage owing to multiple reasons, major of them were ”No Approach”, “ No one to Guide”, “ Lengthy Process”, “ Meagre Amount”, and “No hope of Sanction”.

38) As per the information of enquired persons, 90 cases constituting 83% of the total applications were under process in the Social Welfare Department whileas the remaining 19 applications were reportedly rejected on various grounds which included non-fulfillment of formalities and non-eligibility as genuine reasons. 10 persons have stated that their applications were unwarrantedly rejected for want of necessary approach.

39) The Knowledgeable Persons were also asked to cite reasons responsible for non-coverage of eligible old aged destitutes in their village/ward. The reasons expressed by them do correlate with the reasons putforth by other tapped sources of the study. The main reasons as per Knowledgeable Persons perspective were the unawareness and meager amount of Pension. Some other reasons like “Not Applied” , “Not Sanctioned” and “No Approach” were also cited for non-coverage of eligible destitutes in their village/ward.

40) The IGNOAPS is basically a burden sharing scheme and currently provides a lumpsum money of Rs 400/- per month which virtually is a part of monthly expenditure incurred by the beneficiaries. As such this meager amount meets a portion of the expenditure borne by the old aged destitutes. In respect of destitutes having dependant family members, the Pension amount naturally meets a smaller portion of the expenditure incurred on day to day domestic purposes. In such a situation, it is difficult and almost impossible to measure the net impact of the scheme. However, from the study of various parameters, it transpires that the target population had acquired a breathing space in their day to day expenditure and were feeling a bit comfortable in the society.

41) For successful implementation of incentive based schemes, some mechanism is required to be evolved so that assistance provided could be revised on scientific basis periodically, at least after every five years, if not on annual basis. Linking the rate of pension with some suitable price index may provide a solution to this problem. The revision in the rate of Pension is strongly recommended to enable the scheme to achieve the objectives in an appropriate manner. The rate of pension is justified to be in the neighbourhood of minimum per

capita monthly expenditure required for survival of an individual in the given socio-economic conditions.

Annexure – A

List of Non-traceable Beneficiaries Under IGNOAPS District Samba

Annexure – B

A) District Samba S.no Name of Beneficiaries Parentage Residence 1 Raj Kour Banta Singh Bandral 2 Swarn Kour Babu Singh Bandral 3 Inder Kour Faquir Singh Bandral 4. Shivo Kour Babu Ram Bandral 5 Krishna Devi Sajan Singh Bandral 6 Maan Kour Babu Singh Bandral 7 Dina Nath Belli Ram Bandral 8 Bhago Kour Muhshan Singh Bandral 9 Ram Payari Hans Raj Bandral 10 Rakhi Devi Chajju Ram Gho Rakwala 11 Sakuntla devi Sain Dass Sarva 12 Shankuntla Devi Sain Dass Sarva 13 Sakuntla Devi Sain Dass Sarva 14 Paro Devi Widder Ram Rarri 15 Gain Chand Mukhtyari Ram Rarri 16 Durgi Kour Thoru Ram Rarri 17 Gaino Devi Chajju Ram Rarri 18 Maya Kour Punnu Ram Nanga 19 Barkat Singh Sher Singh Nanga 20 Parkash Chand Jagtu Ram Nanga 21 Veero Devi Des Raj Nanga 22 Parsino Devi Babu Ram Nanga 23 Amar Devi Badri nath Arazi Samba 24 Munshi Ram Shanku Ram Arazi Samba 25 Thoru Ram Sadhu Ram Arazi Samba 26 Janti Devi Titru Ram Daboh 27 Dhakki Devi Punnu Ram Daboh 28 Dhano Devi Pawan Singh Daboh 29 Satya Devi Shanku Ram Daboh 30 Babu Ram Dina Nath Amli 31 Mangal Dass Dhamu Ram Nihari 32 Gian Chand Munshi Ram Nanak Chak 33 Taro Devi Hans Raj Chak Balotran 34 Uma Devi Badri nath Chak Balotran 35 Anant Ram Labbu Ram Meen Sarkar

W.N.1 36 Pathu Ram Jumma Ram Meen Sarkar

W.N. 2 37 Parkasho Devi Dhani Ram Nathwal 38 Dhani Ram Jyoti Ram Badwal 39 Koushalya Devi Gouri Ram Badali 40 Behari Lal Rasal Ram Badali 41 Sudagar Mal Manssa Ram Badali 42 Gouri Shankar Punnu Ram Badali 43 Mewa Ram Madu Ram Ramloo

List of Expired Beneficiaries Under IGNOAPS District Samba

Brahmna 44 Vidhya Devi Duni Chand Ramloo

Brahmna 45 Mewa Ram Madu Ram Ramloo

Rasolian 46 Ghasita Ram Jaggar Ram Nand Pur 47 Premo devi Ghasita Ram Nand Pur 48 Parkasho Devi Daya Ram Nand Pur 49 Des Raj Krishan Singh Chak Paras 50 Pritto Devi Munshi Ram Chak Paras 51 Shani Devi Dharam Chand Chak Jawar 52 Munshi Ram Dittu Ram Mandi Garh 53 Sadro Ram Punnu Ram Mandi Garh 54 Nandi Devi Sidho Ram Mandi Garh 55 Munshi Ram Dittu Ram Mandi Garh 56 Sidho Ram Baga Ram Mandi Garh 57 Godawri Devi Kanshi Ram No. 6 MCSamba 58 Harman Singh Sohan Singh No. 7 MC

Samba 59 Shanti Devi Phuku Ram No. 7 MC

Samba 60 Chajju Ram Narsingh Dass Gurwal 61 Dharmo Devi Chajju Ram Najwal 62 Bua Ditta Nanku Raipur 63 Maya Devi Rolu Ram Raipur 64 Dhani Devi Bua Ditta Raipur 65 Giano Devi Bani Ram Rajpura Koullar 66 Shanti Devi Labbha Ram Rajpura Koullar 67 Sarati Devi Ram Singh Kumi 68 Saro Devi N.A Kumi 69 Premi Devi Amar Nath Rakh Kangwalla 70 Amar Nath Nandu Ram Taloor 71 Krishan Chand Bhagn Ram Keso Manhasan 72 Goma Devi Sansar Chand Chang 73 Bodh Raj Kirpa Ram Chang 74 Malavi Devi Gopal Dass Sanoora 75 Charan Singh Faquir Singh Chak chure

Singh 76 Sant Kour Amar Singh Bamboo Chak 77 Des Raj Sant Ram Chhan Matlooni 78 Thuro Devi Roop Chand Chhan Matlooni 79 Milkha Singh Punjab Singh Gurah Jattan 80 Sita Devi Nathu Ram Chak Shamma 81 Sarda Ram Haria Ram Merajpur 82 Sarfo Devi Batter Singh Merajpur 83 Krishna Devi Amar Nath Merajpur 84 Jano Devi N.A Sohandha 85 Rakhi Devi Bewa Ram Bakha Chack

86 Mangu Ram Bana Ram Khanpur B) District Shopian- List of Expired Beneficiaries Under IGNOAPS S.no Name of beneficiary Residence 1 Gull Sheikh Hergam Shopian 2 Mukhti Hergam Shopian 3 Mohd Ismail Memendar 4 Zoona Allowpora 5 Mohammad Ganie Memendar 6 Mohd Rajab Wagay Braripora 7 Mohd Sultan Sheikh Saidpora 8 Khateeja Saidpora 9 Gull Khatana Saidpora 10 Gh Hassan Kumar Ramnagri 11 Wali Mohd Mir Ratnipora 12 Mohd Shafi Baba H.P. Batagund 13 Ama Baba H.P. Batagund 14 Ashoor Teeli Trenz 15 Gull Wani Cheygund 16 Khateeja Mazhama 17 Mohaamd Ganie Check Keegam 18 Gh Mohd Wagay Check Keegam 19 Gh Mod Reshi Check Keegam 20 Ab Gani Wani Dairoo 21 Gaffar Wagay Dairoo 22 Gull Ahangar Dairoo 23 Rehti Gulabteng Keller 24 Gh Mohd Wagay Pajoo 25 Mohd Ismail Gattipora 26 Mohd Akbar Wani Zampathri 27 Mohd Mochi Wathoo 28 Ahad Shah Potterwal 29 Aisha Avan Pehlipora 30 Ab Aziz Bhat K. Manloo 31 Kurshi K. Manloo 32 Gh Mohd Dar Imamsahib 33 Muma Rather Imamsahib 34 Jana Cheterwach 35 Gulla Shah Reshipora 36 Mohd Afzal Reshi Reshipora 37 Taja Zawoora 38 Mohd Abdullah Zampathri 39 Sai Mohammad Zampathri 40 Ab Ahad Shah Wachi 41 Gh Hassan Reshi Wachi 42 Khazir Reshi Wachi 43 Rahim Kumar Wachi

Annexure – C List of cases found not receiving pensions under IGNOAPS but

were existing on the list A) District Shopian

S.no Name of Beneficiary Address 1 Gh Mohd Shah Hergam 2 Ab Gani Dar Brari Pora Nowgam 3 Habib Ullah Lone Chowgam 4 Gh Mohd Wani CH. Poshpora Keegam 5 Gh Mohd Wagay CH Keegam 6 Gulla Dar Ch Keegam 7 Manzoor Ahmad Wani Hydergund 8 Ab Razak Hajam, Hydergund 9 Ab Razak Dar Melhura 10 Bashir Ahmad Gursi Zamparthri 11 Gh Hassan Ganie Melhura

Annexure – D

List of beneficiaries with Miscellaneous remarks S.no Name of Beneficiary Residential Address Age Remarks . 1) Mohd Abdullah S/O Ab Sattar Waza Dairoo 80 Years Two sons are Govt employees. 2) Jana W/O Abdullah Wani Babapora 60 Years Two sons are Govt employees. 3) Maaroofa Jaan D/O Bashir Ah Kumar Trenz 17 Years 9th Class Student 4) Shahid Ahmad S/o Bashir Ahmad Trenz 20 Years B Tech Student. 5) Ishrat Majid D/O Ab Majid Mir Mughal pora 24 Years PG Student 6) Bilal Ahmad Bhat S/O Ab Salam Bhat Mughal pora 25Years PG Student