Earlier last month, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandra Sekhar Rao was controversial across the nation for the intensive household survey. It was widely believed that KCR used the survey to decide the numbers of Settlers and make sure that only ‘real’ Telanganites get the government benefits. However KCR government claimed that the survey is aimed to weed out bogus beneficiaries of various government schemes. Weeding bogus have again raised the hue and cry regarding political harassment.
On the other side, Andhra Pradesh government is also announcing various welfare schemes and Naidu’s government there also weeded several bogus beneficiaries but with out making noise like that of his Telangana counterpart. AP government has used Aadhaar data to weed out ineligible and bogus beneficiaries in all government schemes, from ration cards to pensions to fee reimbursement. Around 3 to 4 lakh “ineligible” pensioners have already been removed in AP with out making unnecessary controversies. Most of the welfare scheme benefits were cut to those who own more than 2.5 acres of wetland and 5 acres of dry land, those possessing four wheelers and those who are earning more than one Lakh per annum according to the income tax data.
