RANCHI: Several married women in Jharkhand's Dumka have been found to be fraudulently receiving widow pensions for the past 10 years, as per a recent social audit.
During the social audit in Ranishwar Block of Dumka, officials found that 14 women had declared their husbands dead and availed the widow pensions for a decade.
The women revealed that two middlemen had taken substantial sums of money and got their applications approved. They were told that they would be getting Rs 1000 per month under the scheme and they will have to give half of that amount every month to the middlemen for getting their application approved.
Block Development Officer, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, informed that 14 women have been identified so far and physical verification of six has already been completed.
“During the social audit at Kadma village under Mohalbana Panchayat in Ranishwar Block, we were shocked to see that the women, whose husbands are still alive, are taking benefits under Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Vidhwa Pension Yojana for the last 10 years,” said the BDO.
Six of those women were found to be living adjacent to each other in Kadma village, while other eight such women were found to living in some other villages, he added.
According to BDO, action had been initiated as soon as the matter came to light.
Those whose physical verification was completed, have been issued notices asking them to deposit the amount they have taken fraudulently during these years, he said.
Rajesh Kumar Sinha informed that the entire amount withdrawn fraudulently will be recovered with interest.
“All the six women have been issued notices asking them to deposit the amount of Rs 89, 800 withdrawn fraudulently since the year 2016, along with the interest of per cent to the treasury,” said Rajesh Kumar Sinha.
The BDO added that notices were issued to those women on Wednesday.
Additionally, the two middlemen who orchestrated this fraud will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken, he said.
The BDO also informed that physical verification of the other eight women is also being done. If their husbands are also found to be alive and established that they have been withdrawing money fraudulently, they will also be issued notices, he said.
The administration is now preparing to strictly monitor such cases to ensure that benefits reach only to the eligible individuals.
Notably, on the instructions of Deputy Commissioner Abhijeet Sinha, social audit of various types of pension beneficiaries under social security is being conducted in the panchayats.