BHUBANESWAR: Faced with severe criticism for failing to ensure pension through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to beneficiaries, the Odisha government has decided to return to the old method of cash disbursement.
The Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department has informed all collectors and commissioners of municipal corporations that the beneficiaries of the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) will receive pensions in cash from June onwards.
The decision was taken as many elderly and differently-abled pensioners faced difficulties while withdrawing and collecting cash from their bank accounts while some others did not receive their pension on time due to a technical glitch in the portal. Though DBT was introduced to ensure a simpler and faster flow of funds and accurate targeting of beneficiaries apart from de-duplication and reduction of fraud, many beneficiaries in Odisha are deprived as 62 per cent of panchayats in the state are yet to have bank branches.
A viral video of an elderly woman from Nabarangpur district walking barefoot to collect her pension from a bank recently brought to the fore the struggles of thousands of beneficiaries of welfare schemes managed through DBT. The State Bank of India provided the woman with her pension at the doorstep after the incident drew the attention of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Several such incidents surfaced from across the state as the elderly were forced to walk long distances to collect pensions. The state government has also decided to provide pensions at the doorstep of pensioners, who cannot travel to places of disbursement and usually face inconvenience due to fingerprint mismatch due to old age or some other authentication issues.
SSEPD department secretary Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma has asked all districts to provide the beneficiary's pension in cash on the 15th of every month at the disbursement places as was done earlier. He has also asked the officials to ensure the involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions in the disbursement of pensions under the scheme.MBPY is a beneficial scheme initiated under the SSEPD department for widows, the destitute, persons with disabilities, transgenders and old age persons in the state.
Back to basics
Collectors, civic body commissioners asked to ensure MBPY beneficiaries are given pension in cash
The pension will be given on 15th of every month
SSEPD dept has asked officials to involve PRIs in the process