Nearly 2,000 marriage records in Odisha manipulated to claim welfare aid: report
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Nearly 2,000 instances of alleged manipulation of marriage records to fraudulently claim marriage assistance under the Nirman Shramik scheme have come to light during an audit of the funds of the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board.
The draft audit report on the ‘Implementation of PAReSHRAM and Nirman Shramik Portal in the State’ is expected to be part of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Audit report for 2024-2025.
A day earlier, based on the findings of the same audit report, The Hindu reported on how 2,487 construction workers were declared dead and their nominees were paid death assistance, even though the workers continued to draw subsidised foodgrain under the National Food Security Act and the State Food Security Scheme after their recorded deaths.
“On analysis of the legacy database, it was noticed that 676 marriage certificates had registration dates prior to the date of marriage. Similarly, in five sampled districts, it was found that 126 marriage registration dates were prior to the date of marriage,” states the draft report.
It adds that after the Nirmal Shramik Portal went live, 1,257 such cases were found across the State and 333 in sampled districts, leading to disbursement of ₹6.29 crore. “Audit found that system design flaws and lack of validation allowed ineligible individuals to exploit the scheme, violating marriage registration protocols,” the draft report states.
The report also notes that marriage certificate issue registers were maintained with blank pages and without recipient signatures at the Block Development Office, Khariar. “It was observed that 586 marriage benefits were disbursed in BDO, Khariar amounting to ₹2.90 crore covering 2020-25 but details of the issued certificates were not available,” it states.
The board provides ₹50,000 aid for the marriage of an unmarried registered female beneficiary or for the marriage of two unmarried daughters above 18 years of a registered construction worker. The board had amassed over ₹4,000 crore by 2024.
As per the Orissa Hindu Marriages and Registration Rules, 1960, the “parties to the marriage duly solemnised in accordance with the provisions of the Act shall within a period of 30 days from the date of solemnisation of the marriage compulsorily submit application in Form B before the Registrar for registration of the marriage”.
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