Jalandhar administration deposited Covid-19 ex gratia of ₹50,000 into the accounts of at least 80 beneficiaries twice, amounting to ₹40 lakh. The matter came to light during the audit by the district revenue department. The administration has now started the recovery proceedings.
In 2021 during Covid-19’s second wave, the state government decided to provide a compensation of ₹50,000 to the heirs of persons who had succumbed to the coronavirus. There were as many as 1,430 beneficiaries in the Jalandhar district.
In the audit report, it came to the fore that 80 beneficiaries were compensated twice with ₹1 lakh each.
One of the senior officials said the confusion arose at the time of sending the list of the beneficiaries along with their account details to the concerned empanelled banks.
“Among the list of beneficiaries, some of the cases were not processed by the bank and kept payments ‘under process’ tag. The department then sent a revised list, including the names of those whose payments were under process along with new beneficiaries. In the meantime, the bank cleared under-process payments before making fresh payments according to the new list,” an official said.
Meanwhile, one of the beneficiaries said they were not aware that they had been paid twice.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, one of the beneficiaries said they were not aware that they had been paid twice.
{{/usCountry}}“We only came to know when I received a recovery notice from the administration to return ₹50,000 following which I cross-checked details with my bank,” he said.
Jalandhar’s additional deputy commissioner Major Amit Mahajan (retd) said prima facia no malafide intention has been found, but a detailed inquiry is on.
“We have identified all the beneficiaries who have been paid twice. The reconciliation is going with the conferences banks, and nearly 50% recoveries have been made so in the matter,” he said
“All the recoveries will be made at the earliest,” the ADC added.