Dead get old age pension, panchayat office clueless

KENDRAPARA: Even after 11 years of death, Janakar Sethi of Narasinghpur gram panchayat in Pattamundai block gets a pension deposited in his account. Not only Sethi but 30 others in the panchayat too have been receiving pension after their death.

Janakar, who died on September 11, 2011 gets a pension of Rs 500 under the social security scheme of the state government. For those under Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the age of 60-79, Rs 500 is disbursed while those above 80 years get Rs 700 per month. While in some cases the amount is directly transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, in others, the pension is given in hand by officials after obtaining their signatures or thumb impressions on the documents from panchayat offices. 

Like Sethi, Jadunath Behera of Adhakhand village who passed away on January 4, 2020 also continues to get a pension. Similarly,  Niranjan Behera, Dolagobinda Bhoi and Sunakar Das are some who are being paid pension even after their death. 

The irregularities came to light  after an RTI activist and member of ward no- 5 of the panchayat Anil Mallick found that the names of over 30 persons who died long back still in the list of beneficiaries. “The officials falsely showed 30 persons from the panchayats as alive though they are dead. The number of such beneficiaries may go up if a proper probe is conducted, said Mallick. 

Pattamundai BDO Bharat Parida said the matter is being investigated. “It is the duty of anganwadi workers to inform panchayat offices about the exact date of death of the beneficiaries. It is being probed if the family members of the beneficiaries or any official had illegally withdrawn the pension. If it is proven, then legal action will be initiated against the guilty,” he said. 

As per rules, pensioners are required to submit life certificates every year to avail the benefit of social security pension schemes but in many cases, kin of the deceased do not inform the panchayat office about it, the BDO said.