Hyderabad, June 11: The Group of Ministers on fee reimbursement has decided to bring in a new law to check fraud in the issuance of income certificates and to penalise both those obtaining and issuing them.
Disclosing this to Express, Higher Education Minister D Sridhar Babu said the law would also help in the matter of white cards and other programmes intended for the poor.
Participating in the GoM deliberations here today, he said that under the present system officials were issuing income certificates indiscriminately, causing problems in the delivery of benefits to the needy and heaping extra burden on the Government as well.
The minister pointed out that even those with cars were acquiring such certificates and availing themselves of the schemes at the expense of genuine claimants.
Sridhar Babu said it was also decided in the meeting to introduce a format with 12 to 13 criteria through which the Mandal Revenue Officer could arrive at the real income of the applicant. Any official trying to get around the format and issuing a false certificate would be duly punished under the new law, he said.
The minister said the committee would have discussions with student unions and associations of college managements. A final decision could be arrived at only after a series of meetings with all the stakeholders, he said.
The GoM would meet again on 15 June, Sridhar Babu added.
–Agencies