Women’s Pension: 25k Found Ineligible

New Delhi: Of the 2.3 lakh beneficiaries of the women's pension scheme verified so far, over 25,000 were found to be ineligible and fraudulently receiving financial assistance from govt, a survey conducted by the women and child development department has revealed.
Under Delhi govt's scheme of providing monthly financial assistance to women in distress—widowed, divorced, separated and destitute—about 3.8 lakhs were drawing an honorarium of Rs 2,500 every month. Following a series of such complaints, govt ordered a door-to-door verification drive in Nov last year and engaged the anganwadi workers for the exercise.
"We have so far verified 2.28 lakh beneficiaries and found that over 25,000 were getting the pension despite being ineligible for it. While some ‘divorced' women had remarried, some were employed and earning a decent salary, and some were not found at the address mentioned in our records," said a senior govt official.
According to officials, the department of women and child development stopped releasing the pension amount after it found that the list of women in distress included a number of "fake" beneficiaries. Now that the names of such women have been struck off, govt has started releasing the pension of those who were surveyed and found genuine. Officials said the verification of the remaining beneficiaries would also be conducted soon, and the genuine beneficiaries would start receiving their pension. Govt spends about Rs 1,140 crore annually to provide financial assistance to women under the scheme.
"Before ordering the survey, we conducted a random check and found that there were cases of women not eligible to draw a pension under the scheme who were getting the benefit. This drive is critical to safeguarding the objectives of the scheme and minimising potential losses," said an official.
The scheme was introduced in 2007-08 to help economically poor widows with a regular source of income. In the first year, 6,288 women were given Rs 600 each every month as financial help from govt. The financial aid is provided to eligible beneficiaries in the age group of 18 years and above, who have been residents of Delhi for the past five years, and whose annual family income is not more than Rs 1 lakh.