Senior officers didn’t take action in old-age pension scam, says CBI

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, July 13

The CBI report into Haryana’s old-age pension scam, covering the period from 1994 to 2012, has revealed the failure of officers heading the Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of SCs and BCs and Antyodaya (SEWA) Department, District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs), and scrutinising committees for enrolling beneficiaries. Before 2018, senior officers kept issuing letters and reminders, but didn’t take action against officials responsible for enrolling ineligible beneficiaries and making recoveries.

‘Can’t overlook criminal liability’

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• Then Principal Secretary, SEWA, Vijayendra Kumar stated before the HC on May 24, 2023 that action was taken against seven District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs)
• “The CBI has pointed out that there were 35 other DSWOs responsible for pensions to ineligible beneficiaries… no action was taken until 2023 against the erring officials,” said the CBI
• It stressed 474 scrutiny committees across 21 districts selected ineligible beneficiaries… a total of 1,422 members were responsible… criminal liability cannot be overlooked

A total of 13,477 ineligible beneficiaries received Rs 17.60 crore, as revealed in re-verification conducted in 2012. While 17,094 beneficiaries were found absent, 50,312 had expired. By November 15, 2023, Rs 5.86 crore had been recovered from 4,087 ineligible beneficiaries while 1,254 beneficiaries had died and 554 couldn’t be traced, resulting in the non-recovery of Rs 1.71 crore and Rs 77.77 lakh, respectively, in their cases. As of now, Rs 6.89 crore from 4,919 beneficiaries is still pending.

The CBI report was handed over to the SEWA Department for further action in May. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the CBI to investigate the matter.

It was found that directions were issued through various reminders to DCs and DSWOs during 2012-17 by the head office for recovery, but only Rs 53.65 lakh could be recovered. After a notification by the Haryana Government in 2018, it was decided that recovery would occur in monthly installments equivalent to 50 per cent of the monthly pension, resulting in recovery of Rs 2.5 crore from 1,963 beneficiaries.

As stated by then Principal Secretary of SEWA Vijayendra Kumar before the HC on May 24, 2023, action was taken against seven DSWOs. However, the CBI has pointed out that there were 35 other DSWOs responsible for pensions to ineligible beneficiaries. Out of these 35 DSWOs, four have expired, and the rest retired more than four years ago.

“Thus, no action was taken by the SJE Department until 2023 against the officials responsible for sanctioning pensions to ineligible beneficiaries,” said the CBI.

There were 474 scrutiny committees across 21 districts, each comprising three members that selected ineligible beneficiaries. “… there are a total of 1,422 members who were responsible for sanctioning pensions to the aforementioned 13,477 ineligible persons,” said the CBI.

The CBI pointed out that no FIR was registered in the matter of sanctioning pensions to ineligible beneficiaries found during re-verification for the period from 1994-2012 and recommended the registration of cases against members of scrutiny committees and ineligible beneficiaries, as criminal liability cannot be overlooked.

The CBI concluded that while the department issued directions for recovery from time to time, no action was taken against the erring officers. Then Principal Secretary of SEWA in 2023 revealed that the file was not processed after 2018 until 2023. Six officials from the head office, including the Joint Director, Deputy Director, Superintendents, and three assistants were found guilty, but action was only taken against two assistants as the others had retired, and no action could be taken after four years since their retirement.

“The inquiry revealed that before 2018, the matter was brought to the attention of senior officers, including the then Principal Secretary and the DG of the SJE Department, several times. Despite a period of around seven years, the higher authorities failed to take strict action against the erring officers for not complying with the directives of the head office, and these senior officers continued issuing letters and reminders. This prolonged inaction underscores systematic deficiencies,” said the CBI. The CBI is now investigating the issue of bogus claims of pension.