GUWAHATI: Taking a cue from Assam in finding fake beneficiaries at Anganwadi centres, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had directed all the states to start a head count to determine the authentic figures for number of beneficiaries.
Addressing a conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Gandhi said, “Thanks to Assam we found out how many children are really being fed in anganwadis. In the initial survey last year, it was found that there are 3 lakh fake children. Now again another survey in June 2018 has revealed that there are actually 14 lakh fake children.”
Earlier in May this year, authorities of the state social welfare department informed that following the directions of the central government, the department carried out a head count of the number of beneficiaries recently in Anganwadi centres across the state. It revealed that six lakh fraudulent names were included in list of beneficiaries in Anganwadi centres.
A senior official in the social welfare department informed G Plus that the huge discrepancies were due to the fact that some children who are already enrolled in schools, were also registered at the Anganwadi centres.
Further, in some places, children who are not enrolled in the Anganwadi centres, come to eat when the meal is served.
