Srikakulam: Every year Rs 85 crore is allotted for all SC, ST and BC welfare hostels and 20 per cent of the funds are being misappropriated at all hostels in the district.
Officials are receiving a number of complaints concerning to damaged food items and facilities. Hostel welfare officers (HWOs) and staff are drawing more funds in the name of cosmetics and food items by showing fake attendance of students at hostels. These irregularities were revea-led while higher officials visited hostels as part of surprise checks.
At Pydibhimavaram BC welfare hostel in Ranastalam mandal, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials found differences in hostel and school records concerning to number of students. In the hostel records, ACB found 50 fake students’ names entered by the HWO K. Krishnamurhty during last academic year and at that time HWO was not available at the hostel.
The ACB officials found the same kind of anomalies at Pathapatnam, Ponduru, Palakonda and in all other BC, SC and ST welfare hostels in the district. Based on ACB and higher officials’ reports, the state government decided to curb irregularities by installing biometric attendance system at all welfare hostels in a phased manner.
In the first phase, 42 SC welfare hostels were selected for biometric system. “We have identified 42 hostels out of total 61 in the district to install biometric system and distributed laptops to HWOs of 42 hostels,” said social welfare deputy director K. Atchuthananda. “We also collected Aadhaar numbers of all 5,300 students in 61 hostels and need to collect finger prints and photos. But, we are waiting for government’s orders to install software for implementation of biometric attendance system,” the DD explained.
