MANGALURU: A day after The New Indian Express reported that the Karnataka government had temporarily halted social security pension for over 18 lakh beneficiaries, Deputy CM and Revenue Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Tuesday ordered continuation of pensions for all eligible beneficiaries with an annual income between Rs 32,000 and Rs 1.20 lakh.
The order marks a significant relaxation of the earlier income eligibility ceiling of Rs 32,000, which had remained unchanged for several years, and excluded a large number of deserving beneficiaries from old-age, widow and disability pensions. The revised annual income limit of Rs 1.20 lakh is expected to bring many beneficiaries back under the social security net.
The government said the data of pension beneficiaries was integrated with the Family Database, following which 23,14,544 beneficiaries were identified as “suspect” cases and subjected to physical verification using the Samanvaya mobile application.
During the verification drive, pensions of 18,06,032 beneficiaries were temporarily suspended as they had either failed to produce documents, were not residing at the recorded address or had not submitted income certificates.
Dr Parameshwara has now directed tahsildars to verify cases based on reports submitted through the mobile app by village accountants, and restore pensions to beneficiaries whose annual income is above Rs 32,000 but within Rs 1.20 lakh, and who satisfy all other eligibility conditions.