Pension to 4.15 lakh destitute persons withdrawn

Government says decision taken on grounds of death, dual registration and change of location

The State government has informed the Madras High Court that pension disbursed to about 4.15 lakh destitute persons under the social security scheme has been withdrawn/cancelled on grounds of death, dual registration and change of place.

The submission was made on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition that sought direction to the government to sanction and disburse pension under the Social Security Scheme (SSS) to 4,15,478 indigent and destitute beneficiaries who were not paid since 2014 and to protect their livelihood guaranteed under the Constitution. According to the petitioner, the government had decided to withdraw the benefit hurriedly on the grounds of death, dual registration, and transfer of place. When the plea came up for hearing before the First Bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh and R.M.T. Teeka Raman, the Bench noted that the government had taken the decision only after verifying the records and that it could not be said that it had been done hurriedly.

‘Collect details’

“Since the petitioner is stated to be a social worker and is very much interested in the subject matter, we direct the petitioner to first do the exercise of collecting the details of persons who have been deprived of the benefits due to the decision taken by the government and forward the same to the authorities concerned.

On receipt of such details, the authorities shall look into the issue within two months,” the judges said and disposed of the PIL.