Deccan Chronicle: Raipur: Sunday, 27 July 2014.
Annapurna,
age 213, daughter of Dharmendra, Mahatma Gandhi Nagar, Amaldih, Raipur
(Chhattisgarh). The double centenarian is not only alive but also riding
bicycle.
This may
sound incredulous, but the ‘said woman’ finds place in the list of
beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri Cycle Sahayata Yojana, being implemented by the
Chhattisgarh government to provide free bicycles to women engaged in
construction works in the state.
The
beneficiary, most likely a fictitious one, received the free bicycle in 2013,
according to information provided under the RTI Act.
“I was
shocked to see the list of beneficiaries where not only one double centenarian,
but also as many as 1,452 centenarians, all women, figured. While, the double
centenarian’s address has been mentioned in the list, there was no mention of
whereabouts of the centenarian beneficiaries in it”, RTI activist Sanjeev
Agrawal said on Saturday.
“This speaks
volumes on scale of corruptions in the scheme,” he added.
As per the
information provided under RTI, all the centenarian beneficiaries are aged
exactly 114 years. When contacted, an officer of state labour department, he
said, “The matter is under investigation.”
A state
government officer, said that earlier a private agency was hired by the
government to procure bicycles at `6500
each. However, the practice was discontinued following reports of
alleged widespread irregularities in procurement of the commodity.