Audit Office has directed NSPA to recover MVR 93,000 released as allowance to single parents in violation of rules by the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) in 2020.

Audit Office released the financial audit reports of NSPA for 2020 and 2021 on Sunday, in which it said that while the Agency had signed and agreed in an undertaking that if a beneficiary's situation changes, it should be communicated to NSPA. However, not everyone has been informing NSPA about their marriages, the audit report stated.

The audit report also pointed out that such information in the courts was not connected by a single network and hence it was not available to NSPA at the earliest.

"It was found that a total of MVR 93,000 was given in 2020 to nine persons who were not eligible for the allowance. This is because the family court/department of judicial administration has not made arrangements to verify the authenticity about marriages," the audit office said.

According to the Audit Office, it was clear from the information shared by the family court that the nine were married at the time of the allowance.

The conditions laid down in the rules for providing financial assistance to single parents who take care of their children alone include that the person seeking help should not be married, and the amendment to the rules states that if the condition of a person receiving assistance changes or the information of the person receiving assistance changes or the condition specified in the rules is violated or changed.

Therefore, the Audit Office has directed to collect the money through the employees who are negligent in providing the allowance and deposit it in the public bank account of the state. The Audit Office said that the employee shall be held responsible for the loss caused to the state due to negligence of the public servants.

It has also been asked to ensure that the status of a recipient of financial assistance to a mother or father who takes care of their children alone changes so that the NSPA is aware of it.