Punjab Government mulls making Aadhaar, voter ID must for old-age pension

Archit Watts

Muktsar, November 9

To keep a check on fake beneficiaries, the state government is all set to make both Aadhaar and voter identity cards mandatory for enrolment of new beneficiaries of the old-age pension scheme. Notably, a large number of fake beneficiaries have been detected in the past.

Presently, the state government is giving a pension of Rs 1,500 per month to each beneficiary. In the existing conditions, the pension is granted to women of 58 years of age and above and to men of 65 years of age and above. They have to submit a copy of either their Aadhaar card or the voter identity card. Further, their total annual income should not be more than Rs 60,000 including business or rental or interest income.

For the rural areas, the applicant having maximum 2.5 acre agricultural land is eligible for pension as per report of the Revenue Department. In the urban areas, an applicant must not have more than eight marla house.

An employee of the Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development said mostly people were submitting copy of their Aadhaar cards while getting enrolled as old-age pensioners.

“We have found during re-verification that the date of birth of a number of beneficiaries did not match with their voter identity cards. Further, it has been observed that people change their date of birth on the Aadhaar card to get enrolled as a beneficiary of the old-age pension scheme. So, the state government is now mulling to make both the cards mandatory while enrolling a fresh beneficiary,” he said.

Charanjit Singh Maan, joint director, Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development, said, “It is under the consideration of the state government to make both the Aadhaar card and the voter identity card mandatory while enrolling a new beneficiary of the old-age pension scheme.”

Will keep check on fake beneficiaries

It is under the consideration of the state government to make both Aadhaar card and voter identity card must while enrolling a new beneficiary for the old-age pension scheme. The need has arisen to keep a check on fake beneficiaries. — Charanjit Singh Maan, joint director, dept of social security and women & child development