BHUBANESWAR: In a big relief for pensioners, the State Government on Thursday made it clear that not a single eligible beneficiary covered under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) would be deprived of entitlements for not having Aadhaar enrollment this month. A fresh order issued by the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department said if somebody is alive and identifiable as a beneficiary, he/she should not be denied pension for not having Aadhaar.
“It will the responsibility of the local administration to identity people with no Aadhaar enrollment, collect application forms and provide them Aadhaar ID before the next phase of disbursement,” Secretary Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma said in the order. The order came after media reports on the problems faced by lakhs of beneficiaries, who were deprived of their pensions and ex-gratia amount of `1000 provided by the Centre as an assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the State Government had made Aadhaar seeding mandatory for pensioners under both the schemes depriving around 20 per cent of the 49 lakh beneficiaries of their entitlements. The State Government has also asked all Collectors to ensure that the blocks and urban local bodies collect application forms for Aadhaar enrollment/update from all the left-out beneficiaries along with other documents, including mobile number and bank details, if available.
A web based system has been put in place by which the data will be captured and monitored. Block and ULB wise database of pensioners under NSAP and MBPY who don’t have Aadhaar will be made available in the departmental website (www.ssepd.gov.in) for the purpose of monitoring and reporting.
The block and municipal authorities will be held responsible if the beneficiaries do not get their Aadhaar number before the next round of pension disbursement.Sarma has directed districts to identity the pensioners whose Aadhaar cannot be processed due to their disability like blindness, leprosy, old age and mental retardation. Approval of competent authority may be expeditiously obtained for Aadhaar generation in such cases, he said.
Food rights campaigners have welcomed the decision. “Mandatory Aadhaar for pension was a bane for lakhs pensioners. The Government should ensure that all eligible persons keep on receiving pension with or without Aadhaar,” said convener of Right to Food Campaign (Odisha) Sameet Panda.NSAP and MBPY are social safety nets covering the most vulnerable sections - the elderly, persons with disabilities, widows, and transgenders who are entitled to a pension of `500 to `700 a month.