Pension to be credited directly

In an office order issued recently by the municipal commissioner of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) P K Gupta, the pension will be paid directly to the account of the eligible persons with electronic clearing system (ECS). Interestingly, the corporation, which is already facing staff crunch, has decided to verfiy the credentials of the candidates at the end of every quarter. ‘The applications for grant of old-age pension shall be received at the office of Citizen Service Bureau (CSB) and deputy commissioner of the zone would be the santioning authority,’ said Padma Jaiswal, director, CSD in NDMC. Earlier, the pension forms were received at the office of the local municipal councillor and pension was also distributed by the councillor. The verification of the address and credentials were also done by the local councillor. As per the new provision, the councillors will only recommend and certify the application orm from their areas. The municipal corporations pay pensions amounting Rs 1,000 to senior citizens, destitute, disabled, blinds, widows, insane, crippled, divorcee women, eunuch, orphans and persons suffering from serious illness. However, the number of benefeceires have been increased from 700 to 750 per ward. NDMC expends over Rs 7.5 crore per annum for the pension scheme. According to the sources, the councillors will soon loose their say in the new system of booking of community halls, parks and certifying the payment bills of street lights.