Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Resistance to plan for pension through banks

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A proposal to distribute welfare pensions and unemployment dole through nationalised banks seems to have run into rough weather owing to the stiff resistance put up by a section of elected members of local self-government institutions.

The Local Administration Department had decided to route all pensions and unemployment dole through banks to plug the wastage of public funds by eliminating undeserving candidates who have been enjoying the benefit at the expense of the eligible poor. Official sources told The Hindu that a section of elected members have objected to the proposed system on the grounds that it was against the spirit of decentralisation of powers.

The department is understood to have stumbled upon certain instances of employees of government and public sector undertakings receiving unemployment dole.

Instances of welfare pensions being channelised to the dead and ineligible persons have also been taken note of. According to rules, the beneficiaries of unemployment dole should surrender their card on getting a job.

The names of those getting placement through employment exchanges would be deleted from the list of beneficiaries in the natural course. But a similar system does not exist in the Public Service Commission or other agencies and the beneficiaries continue to enjoy the allowance as well as the salary.

Similarly, in the case of welfare pensions, at least in certain cases, the relatives of beneficiaries do not report their death and continue to receive the benefit.

Thus a large section of eligible persons are deprived of their due. Though not a substantial sum, the pension is the only source of income for many indigent sections in the State.

Such irregularities point to lack of an efficient mechanism to scrutinise the list of beneficiaries in each locale from time to time.

Following the decentralisation of powers, the disbursal of welfare pensions has been entrusted to civic bodies. But for taking over the responsibility, so far the local bodies have not made any serious effort to verify the list and weed out ineligible candidates from time to time.

Even while routing the benefits through banks, local bodies would have a pivotal role in identifying the beneficiaries and scrutinising the list. The department is also planning to seek the services of post offices to disburse the pensions, sources said.

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