About 3.6 lakh ineligible persons, who had been receiving till recently Rs. 1,000 every month under social security pension schemes, will soon be removed from the list of beneficiaries.
Approximately, Rs. 36 crore of the taxpayer’s money was being spent monthly on these persons, who ought not to have been included in the list. Already, the authorities have suspended the payment of pension to the ineligible persons.
A number of factors have been attributed to the inclusion of the ineligible persons. In certain cases, the entries are bogus.
In other instances, those who have been covered under one social security pension scheme have also been receiving pension under another scheme.
Though there have been complaints of irregularities, what triggered the action of the officials three months ago was the finding of an audit team from the office of Commissioner of Revenue Administration about certain cases of sanction of pension in Vellore district.
Of about 3.6 lakh names, the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme accounts for around 1.7 lakh. Of the remaining 1.9 lakh, the Chief Minister’s Uzhavar Padhukappau Thittam, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and the Destitute Widow Pension Scheme account for 1.66 lakh names. The balance comes from the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, Destitute Differently Abled Pension Scheme, Destitute/Deserted Wives Pension Scheme and the one for poor, unmarried incapacitated women.
After the present regime took office in May 2011, the pension amount under various schemes was hiked to Rs. 1,000 a month. At that time, the number of beneficiaries was around 26.3 lakh. In March this year, the number was around 35.4 lakh. During the current financial year, over 1.4 lakh persons have been included.