Running from pillar to post for pension

Thousands deprived of their due owing to problems with documents and so on

January 30, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 09:55 am IST - Bengaluru:

For the past four years, Yasmin Taj, whose husband died nearly seven years ago, has gone from one government official to another to get the Destitute Widow Pension. Multiple visits to the pension adalat also saw her return empty-handed.

Though her pension application has been processed, Indira, another applicant, has not received her old-age pension for the past four years. J.C. Road resident Vasanta, a person with disabilities, has yet to receive the government-mandated pension even though her application was accepted nearly four years ago. For, Balanna, a transgender, her application has been rejected as she — like most other transgenders — are unable to give address proof for the Mythri scheme (monetary aid for sexuality minorities).

Whether it is rejection due to ineligible income limit, or a problem with documentation and certification, these are among the thousands of persons in the State deprived of pension.

‘Sporadic cases’

At an interaction meet organised by the Karnataka State Pension Parishad held here on Thursday, Revenue Minister V. Srinivas Prasad said “2 or 3 per cent” of the beneficiaries have issues — an estimation derived from the “dispersal” of 97 per cent of the nearly 1.7 lakh pension-related cases that were submitted before the pension adalats. Extrapolating this over 47 lakh beneficiaries would still point to nearly 1 lakh people across the State receiving pensions irregularly. Responding to complaints, P.R. Shivaprasad, Director, Social Security and Pension Department, said the Treasury Department was in the process of migration to an automatic system.

“At present, they follow a cheque system. From March, Khajane-II, which is an online system of payment, will be started. This should reduce any delay,” he said.

Raising income limit

The parishad said several others were deprived of pensions due to the “archaic” laws present in the system. “The Revenue Department still follows a limit of Rs.17,000 (for urban areas) and Rs. 12,000 (for rural areas). This comes up to barely Rs. 9 a day,” said Kathyayini Chamaraj, member of the parishad.

However, officials said income limits were determined by the “poverty levels” set by the Planning Commission.

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