Haryana's Labour Minister, Anil Vij, has disclosed alarming findings from an ongoing investigation into a massive alleged scam within the state's labour department, with potential misappropriation estimated at a staggering Rs 1,500 crore. The probe, initiated on the minister's orders, has uncovered widespread irregularities in the verification of construction workers, raising serious concerns about the siphoning of welfare benefits meant for the state's labour force.
Shocking Figures Reveal Scale of Fraud
Addressing the media in Ambala, Minister Anil Vij stated that preliminary reports received from 13 districts have revealed shocking facts. The data indicates a fraud of enormous proportions. Out of 5,99,758 work slips scrutinized in these districts, only 53,249 were found to be valid. The remaining overwhelming majority were declared invalid. Similarly, in a damning revelation for the registration process, only 14,240 out of 2,21,517 registered workers were verified as genuine. The rest were deemed invalid, suggesting a vast network of fabricated identities.
"These figures are alarming. It clearly indicates that benefits meant for genuine labourers were being siphoned off by someone else in their names," the minister asserted. He warned that as the investigation progresses, the scale of the scam could turn out to be even larger than the current estimate of Rs 1,500 crore.
How the Scam Was Uncovered
Anil Vij explained that the issue came to his notice soon after he assumed charge of the labour department. Suspicious patterns emerged, including the finding that in numerous cases, the verification of thousands of workers was allegedly carried out by a single individual—a task that is practically impossible and pointed directly to large-scale organized fraud.
"When it came to light that individual employees verified thousands of workers, I first ordered a summary inspection in three districts of the state, which confirmed the irregularities. Thereafter, a state-wide investigation was ordered," Vij detailed. Due to insufficient staff within the labour department for a comprehensive check, deputy commissioners across Haryana were instructed to form three-member committees in their respective districts. These committees were tasked with conducting door-to-door verification of registered workers using district-wise lists.
Welfare Schemes at the Heart of the Scam
The scandal revolves around the state government's extensive welfare schemes for registered construction workers. These benefits are substantial and include:
- Financial assistance for children's education up to the PhD level.
- Grants for marriage and childbirth.
- Financial support for medical treatment during illness.
Proper registration and verification of beneficiaries are mandatory to avail these benefits. The scam appears to have exploited this system by creating fake workers and work slips to illegally claim these funds.
Minister Vij emphasized that the investigation must now uncover several critical details: who prepared the fake slips, since when the benefits were being drawn, all those who benefited from the fraud, and who carried out or facilitated the bogus verification. "All these aspects will come out in the investigation, and the scale of the scam could be much larger than currently estimated," he added.
Currently, reports from nine districts are still awaited, and the findings from them are expected to provide a more complete picture of the statewide fraud. The minister has also recommended a thorough investigation into the matter to the Chief Minister.
