Adilabad: Much to everyone’s surprise, the much hyped Shaadi Mubarak scheme turned into a helping hand for a widow instead of poor prospective brides.
It is found that Rs 51,000 was sanctioned to a widow Taysin Begum, 27, of Adilabad town under Shaadi Mubarak. Taysin Begum’s husband Akbar of Kinwat of Maharashtra died of cancer in July 2014 and she was staying with her parents in Khanapur Colony in Adilabad. The Shaadi Mubarak scheme is applicable to the brides who got married only after October 2, 2014.
Taysin’s father Shiek Akhtar said some minority leaders came to their house in November 2015 and told them that government was extending financial help of Rs 20,000 to the widows to empower them and help them lead a dignified life and took her signature and photocopies of their ration card, and Aadhaar card.
After six months, the minority leaders gave Rs 20,000 to Taysin Begum.
He said the leaders did not reveal that they were applying for financial help under Shaadi Mubarak and they came to know of the fraud only after the police summoned them to verify their involvement.
Three days ago, Adilabad police arrested five women including Taysin Begum on the charges that they have indulged in corrupt practices to get financial help under Shaadi Mubarak.
The other four women arrested were young mothers, Nisha Parveen, Nausheen Khanam, Sheik Shakeera and Nagma Sulthana. One of them Sulthana had a 20 day-old baby with her and all the five were sent to judicial remand.
Congress minority wing leader and Adilabad town president Sajid Khan alleged it was gullible people who were made scapegoats in the Shaadi Mubarak fraud and the real culprits are absconding.
He said misuse of the scheme in any way is fraud and they were not supporting the women in the fraud but what about the real culprits who ran the scam and were close associates of TRS leaders, Minority Welfare department, and revenue officials. Sajid Khan demanded the police conduct inquiry into the Shaadi Mubarak scam and arrest the real culprits without yielding to any political pressure.
It is surprising to note that tahsildar and village revenue officer (VRO) who are supposed to clear the applications after conducting an inquiry had escaped from the fraud saying that their signatures were forged and they were not involved in the fraud.
But, the minority corporation officials cleared the application based on the inquiry conducted by the revenue officials. There were strong allegations that revenue officials cleared the applications taking the bribes from the agents and now they are hoodwinking the officials saying that their signatures were forged by the agents.
Fathima, a relative of one of the accused women, said the leaders who came to their houses misguided them saying that state government was sanctioning Rs 15,000- Rs 20,000 each to empower the poor Muslims and even going to sanction houses soon.
A total 2,908 candidates have applied online for financial assistance under Shaadi Mubarak and among the 2,498 applications have been accepted so far. A total Rs 12.7 crore have been sanctioned to the district under the scheme and among them Rs 12.04 crore have been released to 2,360 beneficiaries under the Shaadi Mubarak since its inception in the district.
