If the state governments’ performance in the implementation of National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) last year is any indication, UPA’s chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s avowed agenda of reaching out to the aam aadmi may be receiving a severe dent.

Only 65 percent of the total funds released by the centre under the welfare programme reached the beneficiaries - that include the elderly, widowed and disabled across the country - in 2009-10 with the national capital territory Delhi spending as less as 8.17 percent of the total funds allocated to it.

The NSAP comes under the rural development ministry and includes pensions schemes such as old age pension scheme, widow pension scheme, disability pension scheme, national family benefit scheme and Annapurna.    

Only nine out of the 35 states and union territories have spent more that 80 percent of the funds allocated to them under NSAP. Another nine have spent between 50 to 80 percent and the rest 17 have spent less than half.

The figures have been compiled by the states and submitted to the ministry for the upcoming NSAP performance review committee meeting to be held on April 13.

“Those who have spent less than 50 percent of the fund will need to confirm whether disbursement of pension has been done regularly to the beneficiaries,” an official said.  

States that have utilized over 80 percent of the funds are Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, west Bengal, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura while Karnataka, Mizoram, Manipur, J&K, Tamil nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have spent 50-80 percent of the funds allocated to them.

Kerala, Goa, Delhi, Sikkim make up the list of poorest spenders with each state having spent significantly lesser than half the funds allocated to them.