Old age pension scheme: Dead draw money in Allahabad district

According to District Welfare Officer R K Sonkar,in the eight tehsils of the district — 503 people were found ineligible in Soraon,489 in Phulpur,1,881 in Handia,1,160 in Koraon,1,775 in Meja,2,239 in Karchana,302 in Bara and 108 in Sadar.

According to the procedure,a monthly pension of Rs 300 was given to those above 60 years of age and did not have any income or family support. The pension is paid through bank accounts — opened in the name of beneficiaries — and the passbook carries the photograph of the beneficiary. In this case,pensions were being drawn from accounts of dead men and women by producing fake authority letters,which were verified by local officials.

Agrawal said: “From the preliminary inquiry,it is clear that there are lots of discrepancies in age and other criteria. In about half of the cases,family members did not disclose the death of the beneficiary and continue to draw the money illegally in cahoots with local officials. The drive is still on and more fake cases are likely to be detected. The district has 1.22 lakh beneficiaries.”

Agrawal added that FIRs will not only be lodged against officials who had approved these cases,but also against those who had received the money illegally. A recovery drive will also be launched.

“Payment has been stopped in all these cases. I have asked the chief development officer to personally monitor the verification drive and initiate legal actions against the officials and fake beneficiaries,” said Agrawal.