KOCHI: A mammoth exercise to weed out ineligible beneficiaries from the government’s social security pension schemes will begin in December. Going by a study finding 20 per cent of the beneficiaries are ineligible, the government expects to save about Rs 100 crore after the pruning.
The state spends Rs 503 crore a month to pay pensions to 44.27 lakh beneficiaries under five categories - agricultural labourer, old age, disability, unmarried women over 50 years and widows. The monthly payment is Rs 1,100 with some exceptions.
A sample study by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation in three districts had found that 20 per cent of the beneficiaries were ineligible. Recently, 14,000 persons were excluded from the list on the basis of sufficient proof. This included the names of over 12,000 dead persons.A Finance Department offier said the verification process will be conducted in phases since it will take time to complete the process in flood-affected districts. The first phase, covering Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kannur and Kasargod, will begin in December and will be completed in January.
The verification will be done by over 10,630 Mahila Pradhan agents who will personally meet beneficiaries at their places of residence. The verification agents will be given tablets loaded with a software developed by the Information Kerala Mission.
The agents will utilise iris or fingerprint recognition to crosscheck the beneficiary’s details with the UIDAI data. Data on the beneficiary’s house and living standards will also be collected.
The enumeration and verification of beneficiaries in all districts will be completed by June next year.
Off the list
Earlier, the govt had modified the rules disqualifying people on specific grounds. Those living in houses of 1,200 sq ft area or above, those belonging to a family with an annual income of above D1 lakh, IT payees, service pensioners, those belonging to families with two acres or more and those who own a vehicle with 1000 cc or above cannot avail of the schemes
Number games
Agricultural labourers 4,76,474
Old age 22,03,928
Disability 3,85,370
Widows 12,81,290
Umarried women aged above 50 80,465
Total number of beneficiaries: 44,27,527