NEW DELHI: To track down nearly 50,000 missing pensioners, including old age and physically-disabled, who had applied as beneficiaries last year, the social welfare department has decided to extend the verification window up to three chances for them. Teams have been constituted to identify these missing pensioners and reverify beneficiaries.
The teams will conduct a door-to-door survey of beneficiaries availing monthly pension under its financial aid schemes. Around six lakh pensioners in elderly and disabled category will be included.
As per officials, more than 50,000 pensioners are missing which include 40,000 old age pensioners. “They haven’t come forward for verification of their credentials as pensioners. They are missing from the given address. Money is being transferred to their accounts for the past one year, but the accounts are not active,” a senior government official said. “We will allow beneficiaries to verify their credentials up to three times through relevant documents and legal undertaking.”
The move comes after thousands of beneficiaries receiving pensions did not respond to correspondence by government departments. Total 4.35 lakh elderly and more than 1.30 lakh disabled people in the capital benefit from the pensions.
Irregularities have been flagged in schemes from other departments too. Earlier, the Women and Child Development also investigated the pension scheme for distressed women.