Govt finds 20,000 ‘suspicious’ beneficiaries of pension scheme

Delhi government on Tuesday said it has found around 20,000 “suspicious” beneficiaries of its old age pension scheme during verification and that these accounts have been put on hold.

“The government verified records of 1.10 lakh beneficiaries of old age pension scheme by holding camps, but out of them, 20,000 did not turn up,” said a senior Social Welfare Department official.

There are a total of 4.10 lakh beneficiaries of old age pension, while 20,000 women get widow pension in the national Capital. The official also said that as per the initial investigation, the government has found 20,000 persons, who were taking old age pensions for a long time, as “suspects”.

“Pensions of these persons have been put on hold. The government has asked them to get their records verified first and thereafter, it would release their pensions,” the official said.