'50% North-West Delhi facing exclusion from government schemes'

A survey, participated in by 1,000 respondents from seven settlements of the North-West District here, has revealed that 50 per cent of them are facing exclusion from major government schemes.

"As many as 50 per cent people face extreme exclusion from government schemes, with 80 per cent of respondents knowing next to nothing about three of the six major schemes such as -- Laadli, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Birth Certificate," according to the survey.

The survey by Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) and community-based organisations such as Seva, Aarohan, AINSW and Savera was conducted in seven settlements including Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri, Rohini and Prem Nagar.

"The remaining 50 per cent respondents had experienced very weak and ineffective inclusion with as high as 458 respondents knowing about Ration scheme but only 333 applying for it and 77 getting it," it said.

The report was released by Senior Judicial Officers of the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) and the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) during a meet on "Community-led Assessment on Social Inclusion" here on Thursday.

It assesses the extent of awareness of various schemes and entitlements of socially marginal communities in the district.

"Of all the six schemes the only scheme that large sections were aware of was Aadhar," said the report.

"In the case of Jan Dhan scheme, 615 respondents knew about it, 365 said that they had applied for it and only 150 succeeded in opening their accounts," it stated.

One of the major factors responsible for their exclusion was the inability of the respondents to furnish mandatory documents such as birth certificates, residence proof and their Aadhar number to name a few, according to All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW) President Kusum.

"Instead of informing us about the eligibility criteria and enabling us to secure the necessary documents, it is held against us and used as a reason to deny entitlements that are due to us," she said.

"We are sharing the experiences and the challenges of the community who are in need but since most of them have had bad experiences with the system, they are demoralized," she added.

Neha Kaur from Sultanpuri narrated her experience. "I wanted to apply for my daughter's enrolment, under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) scheme but they told me that her birth certificate was necessary for enrolment. Till then I had not heard about it," she said.

According to NALSA Member Secretary Alok Aggrawal, the contribution of the community in shaping the Single Window is very critical because only the community-based organisations can identify eligible beneficiaries.

"What the Legal Services Authority can do, is to facilitate the department and community to converge and address all the outstanding issues together," he said while releasing the report.

DSLSA Member Secretary Sanjeev Jain also stressed the importance of the Single Window.

"It is important that basic entitlements and information on schemes should reach the community but there are many barriers the community experiences," Jain said.

"We need to address their concerns through the Single Window set up by DSLSA under the NALSA Scheme in North West District," he added.

He also informed that the Single Window implemented by DSLSA as part of the NALSA Scheme, 2015 to address concerns of Vulnerable Communities will be extended to other parts of Delhi and the country.

Women and Child Development Deputy Director Sharmista Sharma was also present as the event.

"The ministry not only welcomes the Single Window initiative of DSLSA and DLSA in the North West District but will also make every possible effort to demonstrate to the community our seriousness in making the schemes reach all the marginal women and thereby winning their trust and confidence," Sharma said.

--IANS

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