Another lapse as 3,400 multiple pension IDs detected in Karnal

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 3

It has come to light that multiple IDs of a single pensioner have been generated in the district, putting the Department of Social Welfare in a spot.

District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) Satyawan Dhillorh has confirmed this.

The numbers of multiple IDs have been put at 3,400. This came to fore during the linking of Aadhaar numbers with pension.

The only relief is that pension was not disbursed twice to any pensioner, as the pension is credited into bank accounts linked with Aadhaar numbers.

The question is how multiple pension IDs could be generated when the names of applicants and other details are the same.

The authorities are not talking about this. Instead, they are patting their back for detecting the multiple IDs promptly. But sources say it was a result of department’s negligence. “Actual beneficiaries have been running from pillar to post to link their Aadhaar numbers with pension in spite of filling pension forms twice and, in some cases, thrice,” they say.

“I filled the pension form twice and I am still awaiting the amount,” said an applicant, who visited the department’s office today.

The department had stopped the pension of about 16,000 pensioners as their Aadhaar cards were not linked with pension and bank accounts. After the process, the case of multiple IDs came to light.

The DSWO said, “Sometimes, the applicant files multiple forms for the registration of pension. As a result multiple IDs were generated.”

The department is already facing criticism, for fake beneficiaries withdrew pension between 2011 and 2014. So far, it has recovered about Rs 13 crore out of Rs 18 crore from fake beneficiaries.

“About Rs 5 crore have been collected from fake beneficiaries. The department is making efforts to recover the remaining amount,” Dhillorh said.

The case of fake beneficiaries came to fore after a complainant alleged several persons, who did not meet the age criteria, were getting the privilege of pension.

Then DC Balraj Singh had launched an inquiry. Then Additional Deputy Commissioner Girish Arora found that from 2011 to 2014, about 40,000 pensioners were included in the list of beneficiaries, while earlier the figure was only 62,000 from 1989 to 2010.

He also found 16,487 applications bore the signatures of only two doctors and were signed by then DSWO. The department had stopped the pension of about 29,000 beneficiaries. Later, more than 2,000 persons were found eligible after verifying the documents.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had raised the matter issue after assuming power, following which the department had conducted the investigation.

Aadhaar goof-up 

• The case of multiple IDs came to fore during the linking of Aadhaar numbers with pension. 
• The only relief is that pension was not disbursed twice to any pensioner, as the pension is credited into bank accounts linked with Aadhaar numbers.
• The authorities are patting their back for detecting the multiple IDs promptly
• But sources say it was a result of department's negligence. “Actual beneficiaries have been running from pillar to post to link their Aadhaar numbers with pension in spite of filling pension forms twice and, in some cases, thrice,” they say.