Context :
Niti
Aayog to conduct household survey to assess impact and outreach of central Schemes
( ET - 02 June 2022 )
Extract :
The Development, Monitoring & Evaluation Office under Niti Aayog will soon start a comprehensive household survey to evaluate the impact and outreach of key central sector schemes (CS) and centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS) amounting to an annual allocation of over ₹11 lakh crore.
The exercise is expected to be completed before
the next fiscal year following which DMEO will propose the necessary changes to
the CS and CSS to prevent leakages and ensure that the scheme benefits go to the
targeted individuals
"The idea is to
evaluate the success of these schemes on the ground. This kind of survey will
help prevent leakages and improve efficiency in the implementation of these schemes in future while ensuring benefits reach to the people who deserve the most," the official added.
===================================================
The exercise is also
aimed at giving flexibility to states in implementation of these schemes by reducing proliferation of such schemes.
Some of the
big-ticket schemes to be evaluated include :
# Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme,
# Ayushman Bharat,
# National Social Assistance Programme and
# Food and fertiliser subsidy, among others.
MY
TAKE :
I suppose there are dozens of CS / CSS schemes
And there must be millions of “ households “ ( out of
our estimated 290 million – 2900 Lakh households ),
whose ( family ) members “ qualify / are eligible “ to receive the benefits of
one or more of these Schemes
In fact, different members of a given family may be “
eligible / entitled “ to benefits under different schemes
It is obvious that, while framing any CS / CSS scheme,
the Govt must have laid down very STRINGENT / SPECIFIC
“ criteria of eligibility
“
With this background, I believe conducting SURVEY of mere 1 LAKH households may
not yield any meaningful insights ( even considering a well-designed
Statistical sampling plan )
Is DMEO planning a survey of only
those households , which ( whose some or other member ) are already
EXISTING RECEPIENTS ( beneficiaries ) of some or other CS – CSS scheme ?
This assumption looks possible since ( I am sure ), Govt
must have an elaborate / detailed / comprehensive DATABASE of the existing beneficiaries of each scheme, in order to effect
DBT ( Direct Benefit Transfer to their Bank Accounts ) – as per recent transfer
of Rs 2000 / - each to 10 Crore farmers ( which might include some who are
really NOT eligible / do not qualify )
But what about those 289.9 Million ( 2899 LAKH ) households which will be LEFT OUT of this survey ?
These “ non –
covered “ households could well contain MILLIONS of citizens who meet ALL
the “ Eligibility Criteria “ ( for some or other scheme ) – but they do not have awareness of the existence of these
Schemes
Or be aware of the fact that they possess ALL
the “
Eligibility Criteria “ for X – Y – Z scheme
POSER :
Is there a better way to collect such data ( number of
eligible citizens out of 137 Crore )
?
ANSWER :
Surely
Next year Govt is staring the ALL
INDIA CENSUS exercise to cover all 137
crore citizens
Apart from the fact that
it will be carried out using a Mobile App, it is likely to contain following “ data – fields “ which were in the last ( 2011
) paper-based
CENSUS FORM ( seems no “ Eligibility Criteria “ is left out ! ) :
SIDE A
1 ……….. Name
2 ……….. Relationship with Head
3 ………. Sex
4 ………. Date of Birth / Age
5 ………. Current Marital Status
6 ……… Age at marriage
7 ……… Religion
8 ………. SC / ST
9 ………. Disability
10 ………… Mother Tongue
11 ……….. Other languages known
12 ……….. Literacy Status
13 …………Status of Attendance ( in Education
Institutions )
14 ………… Highest Education attained
===================================================
SIDE B
15 ………. Workers
and Non-Workers
# 1…. Main Worker [ if
worked for 6 months or more ]
# 2…. Marginal Worker [ worked for 3 months or more but less than 6 months ]
# 3…. Worked for less than
3 months
# 4…. Non-Worker [ if
not worked at all ]
16………….. Category of Economic Activity
===================================================
ONLY
FOR 16#3 AND 16#4
17 Occupation
…………………. (
Describe the actual work )
18 …Nature of Industry-Trade-Service ( Where the person works
worked or Self-Employed )
ONLY FOR 15#2 /
15#3 / 15#4
21 ……………..Seeking
or Available for
Work [ YES / NO ]
==================================================
22 …………… Fill for Marginal worker / Non Worker [ Travel distance to place
of work –
one
25 ………….. Reason
for Migration
27 ……………..Children
surviving
28 ………………Children
ever born
Name of
Respondent [ 3 digit Serial Number ]
Signature / Thumb impression of
respondent / Date
Signature of Enumerator / Date
Sex of Enumerator
{ M / F }
Signature of Supervisor with Date
To these ( data fields ), I had suggested adding the following :
{ source :
Census
2021 : an Unprecedented Opportunity / 11 Apr 2019 }
# Aadhar ID
# PAN
# Mobile Phone
Number
# E Mail ID– to be treated as “ User ID “ for accessing own data for EDIT
purpose
# Password – for
EDITING own data, online , at any time
# Voter ID
URGENCY :
My suggestion assumes URGENCY given the fact that only yesterday, BIHAR
government passed a resolution to carry out a STATE-LEVEL Census ( of State
Citizens ) for determining OBC – SC – ST population
{ Refer
: Explained:
What is the caste-based census announced in Bihar by Nitish Kumar? / 01
June 2022 }
IF IMPLEMENTED,
THIS IS BOUND TO SIMILAR STATE-LEVEL CENSUSES IN ALL OUR STATES
This nightmare could lead to :
# Widely
differing “ Data Fields “ in Census Forms of different States
# Non-capture of
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
# Non-inclusion of some of the 2633 “ castes / sub castes “ under umbrella
named OBC
# A person of one State migrating to another State may turn “ In-eligible “ for a
scheme
# Huge expense
and manpower costs , spread over months / years
# Because of widely differing DATA-BASES ( of States Censuses ), no chance of “
Aggregating “
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear NITI Aayog,
I urge you to :
Ø Give
up the idea of DMEO survey
Ø Persuade
States to give up their idea of State-level OBC census
Ø Persuade
Centre / States to have just ONE / CENTRAL / NATIONAL census
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
/ hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 03 June 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added on 04 June 2022 :
Survey
flags last-mile delivery issues with Direct Benefit Transfer ( Business Line / 04 June 2022 )
Extract :
A variety of
exclusionary factors can be found at every stage of the delivery pipeline of
Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), a survey by Dvara Reserch has revealed.
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