Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna was accosted by some applicants for social security pensions at Mandagada village in Jainad mandal where he went to attend a private function on Monday. Similarly, the Project Officer of Utnoor’s Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Prashant Patil received complaints from three elderly Adivasis at Gunjala village in Narnoor mandal after they found their names missing from the list of pensioners. The Minister and other top officials are regularly being accosted by disgruntled applicants for social security pensions under the State government’s Aasara scheme to air their grievance. There are others who make rounds of gram panchayat offices and offices of senior officers like the Mandal Parishad Development Officers in respective mandals to lodge their protest for not being included in the list despite being eligible.
An estimated 5 to 10 per cent of applicants for social security pensions under the State government’s Aasara scheme continue to be out of the list of pensioners in different categories in Adilabad.
Though the government has asked us to sanction pensions for all those who are eligible, mistakes either by officials or wrong entries in Aadhar cards have resulted in some of the applications for pensions being rejected, pointed out an officer associated with the Aasara pension scheme.
Over 3.25 lakh persons had applied for pensions of whom 2.11 lakh were initially verified and found to be eligible. After lodging of protests more applicants were given the pensions.
