MillenniumPost
Nation

KVIC's 'Swachchta Abhiyaan' saves over Rs 153 cr of Govt exchequer in 2 fiscal yrs

New Delhi: It may sound unpalatable, but it is true. After the implementation of Aadhaar-seeded payment of Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) or subsidy – directly in the bank account of Khadi artisans, the 'ghost' artisans – on whose names MDA used to be claimed by many Khadi institutions from the last 10-odd years, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has so far saved over Rs 153 crore of government exchequer in two fiscal years, i.e. between FY 2015-16 to 2017-18! Not only that, with the cleansing of records by KVIC – as many as 503 institutions – apparently running on ghost artisans – stopped claiming subsidy!
After the implementation of 'Digital India' doctrine of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, those Khadi institutions, who were claiming MDA on inflated number of artisans, from the KVIC, had to provide correct number of artisans.
And, when KVIC made use of Aadhar mandatory, for the Khadi institutions for providing correct data following serious complaints against many of them that the subsidy, which is given to them for onword payment to Khadi artisans, was not reaching the artisans – it brought some astonishing results. Sample them: In the FY 2015-16, MDA of around Rs 316 crore was claimed and given to altogether 1,918 Khadi institutions.
After the implementation of online Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system through Aadhar-seeded bank accounts in January 2016, the MDA's amount was reduced to Rs 172 crore for 1,759 institutions in the next fiscal 2016-17. And, in the present fiscal 2017-18, the KVIC has disbursed Rs 163 crore among 1,413 institutions.
MDA is calculated at 30 percent of prime cost of production. Out of this eligible amount, 40 percent is paid to the Khadi-producing institutions, 40 percent to the
artisans and remaining 20 percent to those same institutions for giving discounts to customers.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena categorically explains the reason. "The KVIC ranks and files – right from CVO, directors and members were asked to move in the field to verify the artisans.
Almost everyone found that the many Khadi institutions used to claim subsidy even for the non-existing artisans thereby usurping subsidy meant for artisans in the last 10-odd years," he said, adding, "This meticulous exercise has weeded out almost 7 lakh fake artisans as the number of registered number of artisans was found 4.6 lakh instead of inflated 11.6 lakh, thereby reducing the subsidy burden on the government worth Rs 152 crore. Not only that, the number of KIs, who claimed subsidy (MDA) has also come down to 1423 in current FY till 13th March 2018 from 1759 in FY 2016-17 and 1918 in 2015-16."
Thus proving the adage money saved is money earned, the Chairman said that the KVIC has zero-tolerance policy on corruption and transparency in all transactions is its top priority. "A need was therefore, felt by us to cleanse the data and remove numbers of the non-existing artisans, so that the MDA could directly be paid to the artisans in their accounts. We introduced online Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system through Aadhar-seeded bank accounts in January 2016, which resulted in flushing out 'ghost' artisans, who were usurping government subsidy," he said, adding, "We have the real and genuine artisans and they are registered with us on online portal. This Swachchata Abhiyaan has led to creation of genuine data of artisans as well as the Khadi institutions; an exercise not attempted earlier. Hence, in our clean-up operation, imaginary number of artisans has been brought to the real numbers."
The Minister of MSME Giriraj Singh said that various schemes of the KVIC have been digitalized in the past and the Commission has always preferred to be transparent in its modus operandi. "KVIC has entered the new digital era on March 1 this year, with
the implementation of the
Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) under SAP platform. The ERP enables real-time transaction
accounting, budgetary control and reconciliation systems, connecting all its field offices," he said.

Next Story
Share it