Bengaluru: Revenue Minister R. Ashoka announced on Saturday April 30 that the government had identified 3.58 lakh ineligible and bogus social security pension beneficiaries in the State. This has helped in saving Rs. 430 Crore.
Old age, disability, widows, unmarried/divorced women, transgenders, acid attack victims, and endosulfan patients are among the nine monthly pensions presently offered by the State.
“We are examining pension beneficiaries using our Navodaya app, which is linked to the ration database and the e-Janma (births and deaths) database. This has allowed ineligible pensioners, including some who are deceased, to be identified,” Ashoka said.
The State has 73.23 lakh beneficiaries, and the government spent Rs. 7,800 Crore on pension payments in 2020-21, which is likely to rise to Rs. 9,483.51 Crore this year, he said.
“Through ‘Hello Revenue Minister,’ one can call a toll-free number to lodge their request using Aadhaar,” he said claiming to have launched India’s first new paperless system in which pension applicants will be onboarded within 72 hours. It will then be submitted to the village accountant, who will visit the applicant and verify the information, after which the Deputy Tahsildar will approve the pension order and send it to the applicant.
He explained that the 72-hour pension facility may have to wait for people in Bengaluru because there are no village accountants in the city, but that plans are there to deliver pensions through private aggregators like Swiggy, Dunzo, or the government-run Jana Sevaka scheme.
