More money spent on organizing functions to distribute unemployment allowance than the scheme
13 Mar, 2013
The Samajwadi Party had made the election promise of unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth of the state. The unemployment allowance scheme envisages a monthly allowance of Rs. 1000/- to the 25-40 years old beneficiaries of the scheme whose family income is less than Rs 36,000 annually.
The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that the quantum of money spent by the government of Uttar Pradesh on organizing functions to distribute unemployment allowance is more than on the scheme itself.
Between March and November 2012, the SP government has handed over Rs 8.5 crore as unemployment allowance to the youth. However, the catch is that it has spent a much larger amount of Rs 12.5 crore on organizing functions and making arrangements for the distribution. An official release said that under the unemployment allowance scheme about Rs 420.95 crore has been distributed among the selected 11,74,064 beneficiaries till March 9, 2013. A total of 11,74,064 aspirants were selected as beneficiaries out of a total of 12,34,000 applicants who applied for the scheme.