Admn forms panels to recover Rs 26 cr from fake pensioners

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, July 30

As 12,573 fake pensioners were identified in Sangrur, the highest in the state, the authorities have formed special committees for the recovery of Rs 26.63 crore paid to them.

However, residents are demanding strict action against officials who cleared the cases of ineligible persons and asked the government to stop the recovery as Covid-19 has already created serious problems for residents.

Sources said of the total 1.76 lakh pensioners in the district, 1,19,195 are elderly, 30,515 are widows, 9,513 are dependents while the remaining are handicapped. They all are getting a monthly pension of Rs 750. But after complaints of enrolment of ineligible pensioners in the district, the authorities started a detailed survey and detected around 12,573 fake pensioners, who did not fulfil the mandatory guidelines to get the pension.

“The state government has formed committees for further action and recovery of pension from poor residents while there is no action against officials who cleared the cases of ineligible residents. We will not allow the recovery as residents are already facing financial problems due to Covid,” said Avtar Ealwal, state general secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Of the total fake pensioners, records show that the Andana block has 807, Amargarh 1,121, Bhawanigarh 913, Dhuri 544, Dirba 1,668, Lehra 3,038, Malerkotla 938, Sangrur 1,130, Sherpur 400 and the remaining are in Sunam.

“If officials started a pension to my father, it is their fault. Some politicians were also involved in this. We have no money to repay.” said a Dirba resident.

Repeated attempts to contact District Social Welfare Officer (DSSO) Lavleen Kaur proved futile as she did not attend her phone.

“We have formed committees at the block level under the supervision of the tehsildar to start the process of recovery from fake beneficiaries,” said a senior official of the DSSO office.