Local Self-Government Department steps in to fix pension anomalies

In an order addressed to secretaries of corporation, municipalities and grama panchayaths, the LSGD has directed the authorities to identify those who were erroneously listed as ineligible.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) has stepped in to resolve the ongoing furore over the disbursement of social security pensions. In an order addressed to secretaries of corporation, municipalities and grama panchayaths, the LSGD has directed the authorities to identify those who were erroneously listed as ineligible. Earlier, the department had come out with a statistics that 59,621 persons were drawing pension ineligibly.

“The list has been prepared temporarily by the secretaries of respective local bodies. With some quarters crying foul over the list of ineligible, it has been decided to conduct a reinspection,” said an LSGD officer.
According to the officer, as it is suspected that some eligible ones might have erroneously included in the said list a separate order has already been issued, directing the secretaries of local bodies to reconsider the list of ineligible that they have prepared.

“The secretaries will have to recheck the list that they have prepared. This time they will have to identify and remove the eligible from the list of ineligible. They will also have to do the needful to release the pension which has been withheld from them for four months (April to July),” added the officer. At the same time, an excerpt from the order reads that the secretaries will have to complete the inquiry and submit their finding to the Panchayat Director on Friday.

Based on the same the Direct Benefit Transfer Cell operating at the Panchayat Directorate will have to compile the data and submit a final draft, of the eligible who were erroneously placed at the list of ineligible, to the government.

“The local bodies could identify the list of ineligible at their jurisdiction from their respective login at the Sevana Pension Portal. The local bodies will have to go through the list and should finalise if the candidates were indeed ineligible,” reads the order.

In order to complete the reinspection process in time, the local body secretaries concerned could seek the service of Revenue Inspector, Junior Health Inspector, Junior Public Health Nurse, Senior Clerks (in municipalities and corporation) and Village Extension Officer, ICDS Supervisor, Junior Health Inspector, Junior Public Health Nurse, clerks, and others in grama panchayaths.

According to the Finance Minister’s Office, complaints of over 4,000 persons against exclusion were found genuine and they were re-inducted. This included about 700 persons who were wrongly marked as dead.

Though the social security pensioners are around 40,61,393 an inquiry later came out with the finding that there were 64,238 ineligible candidates who are drawing the pension. Following complaints in this list, 4,617 were found to be eligible, thus making the list of ineligible as 59,621.

The beneficiaries of the social security pension were: old-age, disability, unmarried women aged above 50, agricultural labourers and widows or destitute. It is estimated that the government spends `580 crore a month towards social security pension.

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