THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Left-governed Kerala's social security benevolence allegedly extends to BMW owners and people living in airconditioned homes, many of whom are suspected of pocketing subsistence pensions based on fudged income certificates.
The LDF govt ordered a vigilance probe recently against officials of Kottakkal Municipality in Malappuram after an audit by the district finance department revealed that 38 of 42 beneficiaries assessed in Ward 7 werse ineligible for pension. One pensioner was long dead. A previous inspection by Information Kerala Mission, overseeing computerisation and networking of local self-govt institutions, found that 1,458 govt employees in the state had been fraudulently claiming social security pensions.
In most cases of alleged fraud, the first breach was found to have occurred during eligibility checks for schemes meant for the underprivileged. The finance department's audit was part of an initiative to plug holes in the social security net, a legacy of the once-rampant pilferage of food and kerosene supplied under the flagship public distribution scheme.
Sources said one of the suggestions was to evaluate the progress of any such investigation monthly. The authorities have already decided to repeat eligibility checks covering all social security beneficiaries in Kottakkal Municipality. State finance minister K N Balagopal instructed local self-govt institutions to carry out regular assessments of the eligibility of beneficiaries receiving social welfare pensions through bank accounts.
He also directed officials to ensure the removal of all ineligible names from lists of beneficiaries. With approximately 60 lakh welfare pensioners spread across the state, the govt allocates around Rs 900 crore every month to transfer Rs 1,600 each to eligible beneficiaries. LDF's last election manifesto promised to increase these pensions to Rs 2,500 a month.
Officials said the cash-strapped state has been struggling to meet its social security commitments, causing a backlog in pension disbursal.