INDIA: Fraud Detected in Old Age Pension Schemes

SHIMLA, HP(The Hindu-Press Trust of India), April 10, 2007: An audit report has found faults in the execution of the old age/widow pension scheme in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, with non-fixing of time schedule for finalisation of pension cases and incidences of sanction of double pensions among others. There was no linkage between number of pensioners, budget allotment and actual expenditure on pensions during 2001-06, the report said. The report, based on findings in the districts of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu and Shimla, observed that no no time schedule was fixed for finalisation of the pension cases. The time taken for finalisation of 1,208 widow pension cases (out of 1,566 cases) in the four districts ranged between 13 to 93 months and in case of 308 old age pension cases (out of 550 cases) it ranged between 13 and 53 months, even after excluding a period of one year as time taken for processing a case. It said, 61 applicants died in the four test-checked districts between December 2002 and April 2006 before the amount of Rs 200 could be sanctioned to them. The report also noted many cases of payment of double pensions. The records of district welfare officers of the four districts revealed that during 2001-06, pension amounting to Rs 5.16 Lakh remitted to 813 persons through money orders was received back un-disbursed with the remarks recorded on the unpaid money orders that the intended beneficiaries had already received pensions, it said. In 10 districts, double pension amounting to Rs 11.63 lakh was paid to 284 pensioners during 2001-06, the report said, adding that there in some cases pensions were sanctioned to ineligible persons. The CAG report said records of DWOs of the four districts revealed that during 2004-06, pension amounting to Rs 5.16 lakh was sanctioned and disbursed to 178 ineligible persons without the prescribed checks. The beneficiaries were underaged (13), had income more than the prescribed limit (20), had sons in Government jobs (4), their applications were not certified/signed by the recommending authority (55), both husband and wife were beneficiaries under the scheme (63) and had more than five family members (23). The report also observed that against the mandatory provision of widows to provide certificate every year that she had not married, such certificates for 2001-06 had not been obtained from the widow pensioners. The report observed that a total of 18,697 applications for grant of old age pension/widow pension were pending in 2003, 12,833 in 2004 and 9,674 in February 2006. Copyright © 2006, The Hindu.