TURA, Jan 22: BJP spokesperson and Tura MDC, Bernard N Marak on Sunday claimed that some beneficiaries of the Meghalaya government’s Focus scheme were receiving SMSes of amounts credited to their accounts even after the declaration of the Model Code of Conduct, even as he asked concerned authorities to verify the same and look into the matter.
The Tura MDC also raised the question of duping of beneficiaries having taken place, claiming that false SMSes were being received by the beneficiaries with regard to the scheme.
“FOCUS beneficiaries are receiving fake SMSes on their mobile phones mentioning that Rs 5,000/- is credited to their account but on updating the account, Rs 5,000/- mysteriously disappears and are not reflected in their account,” Bernard claimed adding, a similar issue is being faced by the old age pensioners, widow pensioners and specially-abled beneficiaries.
“Modi government cleared all dues to the state but everyone is deprived one way or the other. Even some SHG group members who applied for FOCUS’s Rs 5,000 are divided as only one-third of the group members are receiving but others are rejected on grounds which are not revealed to them,” he added.
The Tura MDC, while terming the scheme as ‘shady’, said that the criteria of selecting the beneficiaries was not mentioned anywhere by the authorities even as he claimed that there was no one is there to clarify the reasons why some of these poor women are deprived as authorities have washed their hands off the issue.
