Tippuram: Left-ruled Kerala’s social security largesse reportedly extends to BMW owners and people living in air-conditioned homes, many of whom are suspected of drawing subsistence pensions on the basis of fake income certificates.
The LDF government recently ordered a vigilance inquiry against Kottakkal Municipality officials in Malappuram after an audit of the district finance department revealed that 38 of the 42 beneficiaries assessed in Ward 7 were ineligible for pension. A pensioner had died long ago.
A previous inspection by the Information Kerala Mission, which oversees computerization and networking of local self-government institutions, found that 1,458 government employees were fraudulently claiming social security pension.
In most of the cases of alleged fraud, the first violation was detected during eligibility verification of schemes for the underprivileged.
Sources said one suggestion was to conduct a monthly assessment of the progress of any such investigation. The authorities have already decided to repeat the eligibility check covering all social security beneficiaries in Kottakkal Municipality.
State Finance Minister KN Balagopal directed local self-government institutions to regularly assess the eligibility of beneficiaries of social welfare pension through bank accounts. He directed the officials to ensure removal of ineligible names from the list of beneficiaries.
With around 60 lakh welfare pensioners, the government allocates around Rs 900 crore every month to transfer Rs 1,600 to each eligible beneficiaries.