Complete income verification through Gram Sabhas, says Haryana CM
Chandigarh, May 19
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday directed the Citizen Resources Information Department to complete the income verification process in Parivar Pehchan Patra through Gram Sabhas on priority.
The Chief Minister made these remarks while chairing a meeting with officials of the Citizen Resources Information Department and the SEWA Department here.
He issued directions regarding the functioning of the department, problems being faced in family identity cards, and their resolution.
Citizen Resources Information Department Commissioner and Secretary J. Ganesan informed that many families in the state are unable to avail the benefits of welfare schemes due to pending income verification.
Although an income verification committee is already working for this purpose, consisting of a government employee as team leader, a local operator, and a volunteer, the reports submitted by them often contain discrepancies in a family's income, making it difficult to determine the actual income.
In response, the Chief Minister directed that the income figures submitted by the team leader and the local operator be presented before the Gram Sabha of the concerned village, which would verify the family's actual income.
The decision taken by the Gram Sabha would be considered final.
The Chief Minister also directed that pending age verification applications should be verified through the Additional Deputy Commissioner.
He said the age of a person could also be determined on the basis of the age of the applicant's eldest child.
He instructed officials to clear all pending cases within one month.
CM Saini further directed that no individual or family should be deprived of government schemes meant for families with annual income up to Rs 1.80 lakh merely because they have agricultural income up to Rs 5 lakh.
He also instructed officials to resolve Aadhaar-linking issues related to the Dayalu Scheme by forming a joint committee comprising the District Social Welfare Officer and the Additional Deputy Commissioner.
For this, he directed the SEWA Department and the Citizen Resources Information Department to work in coordination.
Providing details about the department's functioning, Citizen Resources Information Department Commissioner Ganesan said the Parivar Pehchan Patra platform developed in Haryana is one of the most unique initiatives in the country.
He said that through Parivar Pehchan Patra, a total of 77,41,912 families and 2,98,47,359 members across all 23 districts of Haryana have been registered.
— IANS
Reader Comments
This is a much-needed step. In our village, many families with real incomes below Rs 1.80 lakh were left out because of documentation issues. But I'm concerned about the Gram Sabha being the final authority. What if there are personal grudges or caste dynamics at play? The Additional Deputy Commissioner should have a monitoring role to ensure fairness. Also, the one-month deadline for clearing pending cases seems ambitious but let's hope it works.
As a farmer from Haryana, I'm relieved to hear about the agricultural income exemption. Many of us have land but cash flow is seasonal and unpredictable. The Rs 5 lakh limit seems fair. However, the income verification process must be simpler for the elderly and illiterate people in villages. The Parivar Pehchan Patra is a great initiative, but if implementation is poor, it's useless. Hope the CM's directions are followed on the ground.
Interesting approach from Haryana. I work in a similar field in the UK, and community-based verification can work well if done right. But I wonder about the data privacy aspects—making income details public at Gram Sabha level could be sensitive for some families. Also, what about urban areas where there are no Gram Sabhas? They should have a parallel mechanism. Good to see proactive governance though.
Election season is coming, so such announcements are convenient. But seriously, the Parivar Pehchan Patra system has been flawed since day one—wrong data, missing family members, etc. Relying on Gram Sabhas might add another layer of bureaucracy. The real issue is training the village-level operators. Also, using eldest child's age to determine an adult's age? That sounds like a recipe for more errors. Be cautious!
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