The State government has issued orders to local self-government bodies to strictly follow norms in choosing the beneficiaries for welfare pensions for widows, following complaints of ineligible persons getting into the lists and drawing pensions. The number of women drawing pension for widows in the State has surged to 13 lakh now.
According to a government order issued last week, the norms have not been followed in choosing the beneficiaries for widow pension in some local bodies. Women who are currently in litigation with their husbands for divorce and those who are living separately from their husbands have been found to be included in the list.
As per the norms, for a woman to get the welfare pension for widows, either her husband should be dead or has been missing for more than seven years. In case of a woman whose husband has been missing for more than seven years, the pension can be allotted only on producing a widow certificate issued by the respective revenue authorities. In cases in which the husband has died, his death certificate number, death date, and the details of the local body that certified the death has to be entered into the ‘sevana’ software, which contains the database of welfare pension beneficiaries.
Penal action
Those who have got legally divorced cannot be considered as widows and thus are not eligible for pensions. Even those who have not got divorce, but have been living separately from their husband are not eligible. The government order says that local bodies that choose beneficiaries in violation of these norms will be penalised for the losses the government is bound to have incurred in providing pension for an ineligible beneficiary.
Another order was issued last week regarding reassessment of pension beneficiaries based on whether they are included in the non-priority ration card list.