The Fact News Service
Chandigarh, June 27
The Punjab government has drawn up various schemes for the welfare of the citizens of the state, under which the Punjabis are receiving benefits. Recently, under the direction of Dr. Baljit Kaur, the Minister of Social Security, Women and Child Development, the department conducted a survey on the existence of beneficiaries under the state pension scheme. The survey report presented by the department exposed discrepancies among beneficiaries.
According to the report from the Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development, 1,07,571 out of 33,48,989 beneficiaries receiving pensions under the State Pension Scheme during the last year, 2023-24, were found to be ineligible. A recovery of ₹41.22 crore has been made from these beneficiaries.
Dr. Baljit Kaur stated that last year, 106,521 death cases, 476 NRIs and 574 government pensioners, totaling 1,07,571 beneficiaries, were found ineligible. The state government recovered ₹41.22 crore from these eligible beneficiaries. In total, ₹44.34 crore has been recovered from various ineligible beneficiaries under the state pension scheme.
Dr. Baljit Kaur elaborated that ₹3.50 crore were recovered from 5,375 beneficiaries in Amritsar district, ₹1.77 crore from 3,402 beneficiaries in Barnala, ₹1.08 crore from 1,6099 beneficiaries in Bathinda, ₹0.95 crore from 2546 beneficiaries in Faridkot, ₹0.61 crore from 3049 beneficiaries in Fatehgarh Sahib, ₹0.48 crore from 4,018 beneficiaries in Ferozepur, ₹0.80 crore from 4965 beneficiaries in Fazilka, ₹7.88 crore from 7738 beneficiaries in Gurdaspur, ₹1.74 crore from 5,838 beneficiaries in Hoshiarpur, ₹1.41 crore from 6,404 beneficiaries in Jalandhar, ₹1.61 crore from 4,034 beneficiaries in Kapurthala, ₹1.77 crore from 6,993 beneficiaries in Ludhiana, ₹0.82 crore from 4,329 beneficiaries in Mansa, ₹1.00 crore from 1,721 beneficiaries in Moga, ₹0.78 crore from 5,489 beneficiaries in Sri Muktsar Sahib, ₹0.63 crore from 4,043 beneficiaries in SBS Nagar, ₹2.75 crore from 1,480 beneficiaries in Pathankot, ₹2.78 crore from 7,201 beneficiaries in Patiala, ₹0.37 crore from 2,906 beneficiaries in Rupnagar, ₹6.89 crore from 5,211 beneficiaries in Sangrur, ₹0.21 crore from 2,355 beneficiaries in SAS Nagar, and ₹1.27 crore from 2,375 beneficiaries in Tarn Taran.
Additionally, the Minister mentioned that 3,797 ineligible beneficiaries were found under the State Pension Scheme during April of the current financial year 2024-25, with a recovery of ₹3.12 crore.
Providing further details, the Minister stated that the Social Security, Women and Child Development Department is paying a pension of ₹1,500 per month to the elderly, widows, dependent children and the divyang Persons directly into their bank accounts. She added that under the State Pension Scheme, a budget provision of ₹5,924.50 crore has been made by the state government for the financial year 2024-25. Up to May 2024, ₹1,501.17 crore has been spent by the government on the pensions of beneficiaries, with the monthly expenditure for pension schemes around ₹502 crore.
The Minister emphasized that department officials have been instructed to resume verification of beneficiaries availing pensions soon. She assured that the Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, is committed to providing honest and clean administration to the citizens of the state.
