Raisa Shaikh says her Maha e-Seva Kendra was allotted in 2013 under previous govt's tenure, and she's struggling to make ends meet after Aadhaar agency withdrawal; officials run helter-skelter to gather video proof from other beneficiaries to avoid further embarrassment
The state government's bids at self promotion to commemorate three years in power are embarrassingly backfiring, one after another. Following the Bhivari farmer faux pas, another advertisement, featuring Kondhwa resident Raisa Shaikh, offers a ragsto- riches story of how her life turned around after being allotted a Maha e-Seva Kendra agency. It now transpires that she has been running the agency since 2013, which was during the previous government's tenure. And, far from benefiting, she is actually struggling to make ends meet as her Aadhaar agency was abruptly withdrawn two months ago.
To cover up the mess, government officials are now visiting every beneficiary to get their statements recorded on camera, in case someone raises questions. Describing her plight, Shaikh said, "We used to earn almost Rs 1,000 per day. To ensure that more work is done in the stipulated time, we had employed a few people. But two months ago, we were suddenly told that the nodal agency has changed and so we have to stop the work.
The earlier agency did not even clear the dues. We had to ask our employees to quit, as even paying rent for the place was becoming a burden. Right now, earning just Rs 300-400 has become a tall order."
So, she was obviously surprised when government agencies approached her in the beginning of November to take her photographs and share her 'success story'. "They came and said they wanted to tell my story to the people of the country in order to inspire them. I tried telling them what the reality was and how dismal a condition I was in. I also told them that my agency had been approved in 2013, and not in the current government's tenure. But they ignored all that and clicked my pictures anyway. You can see what they have printed now," Shaikh told Mirror.
She had started off as a data entry operator in 2012 and while she was at it, she came to know about the e-Seva Kendra project. She promptly applied for an agency and the approval was given in 2013. Her first e-Seva Kendra started in the same year near her Gultekdi home. Meanwhile, the Aadhaar project was launched and she completed her training to buy another place in Kondhwa and set up an Aadhaar enrolment centre. She was allotted an area in which she was supposed to visit schools and get students enrolled. She and her husband even recruited a few employees for the project. Everything was going well for them, till her Aadhaar enrolment agency was suddenly withdrawn two months ago.
Her investment for the Aadhaar centre also proved futile, making a huge dent in her savings. "As work kept increasing, we bought two Aadhaar scanning machines, each worth Rs 1.5 lakh, on our own. We thought the government agencies will give us the approval for this. But the registration was never done. Now they have withdrawn our agency. While we are still working for other government projects, those are not earning us sufficient money," she rued.
Husband Raj Shaikh added, "We have supported and worked for every government scheme. But we feel that this government is trying to focus more on publicity. They say that ours is a success story. But the reality is that out of the Rs 35 allotted for every Aadhaar enrolment, we only get Rs 15. If they had spent all this money for the benefit of people, instead of on adverts, even we would have had a success story."
Twice bitten, the state government is now busy designing its own defence. Officials from the information and public relations department are now running from pillar to post to collect proofs of their claims. They visited the Shaikhs' home and got a video shot on their camera. They have also produced a certificate dated September 6, 2016, claiming that the agency was given to them on that date last year.
Mohan Rathod, deputy director of the district information office, admitted to have sent officials to visit Shaikh's home on Sunday. When Mirror queried about the need to shoot videos even after a photoshoot for the advert was done earlier, he clarified, "We are also producing videos of these stories for documentation. So we shot her version on camera."
Shaikh, however, maintained that while the certificate she received was dated in 2016, her centre had actually started in 2013. But why was her Aadhaar agency withdrawn? Government officials from the tehsildar office contended, "Normally, whenever there are irregularities in the process, we write to Mahaonline — the government agency which handles the e-Seva Kendra — asking them to take cognisance. But in this case, we will have to inquire as we do not have any records. They must have taken the decision for some reason."
Dhananjay Munde, Opposition leader at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, retorted, "The government is running this campaign to celebrate three years in power. But, what can be worse than the fact that even after three long years, they are not able to find true beneficiaries of their projects." But education and cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde assured that he will inquire into the matter. "I came to know about the issue only on Sunday. This entire campaign was ideated and run by the information and public relations department. I will have to inquire with them and figure out if anything has gone wrong."
