Audit to check irregularities in Cheyutha pensions: Telangana

Time of India

a day ago

HYDERABAD: The state govt is spending nearly 12,000 crore per annum on extending Cheyutha pensions, formerly known as Aasara, to over 40 lakh beneficiaries in
.
Congress, after coming to power, continued the Aasara pensions started by the previous BRS govt.
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However, the incumbent govt changed its name to Cheyutha pensions. Also, Congress, in poll manifesto, promised to enhance the social security pensions from 2,016 per month to 4,000, the implementation of which was still pending.
Under the Cheyutha scheme, presently, 2,016 per month is being given to weavers, single women, and widows, among others, while the visually challenged get 4,016. Presently, widows, single women, beedi workers, stone cutters, weavers, specially challenged individuals, dialysis, filaria, and HIV-positive patients below the poverty line and holding white ration cards comprise the beneficiary list of Cheyutha pensions.
However, preliminary inquiries revealed that thousands of beneficiaries of these social security pensions were not staying at the addresses they submitted to the govt. They migrated or shifted to other localities and even to other states, but were availing the monthly Cheyutha pensions.
Also, many beneficiaries died, with some families informing the govt about it and many more not doing so, but pensions were being remitted into their bank accounts.
Complaints were also submitted to the govt that irregularities took place in the selection of specially challenged persons for the scheme during the previous govt, with some availing the scheme despite not being specially challenged. The complainants alleged that some obtained certificates of being differently abled and started availing the pensions.
Over 50% of 44 lakh beneficiaries receive the pension through the bank, and others by the postal department.
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For those who completed their know your customer (KYC) details, the pensions were directly deposited into their bank accounts. On its part, the postal department distributes the pensions by holding meetings in gram sabhas, and pension disbursal is done after taking biometrics (fingerprints) of the beneficiaries.
The Society for Elimination of Poverty (SERP) decided to conduct a social audit so that the pensions go to genuine beneficiaries only. Though Congress, during the assembly elections, promised to open the window of the pension scheme to new applicants, it has not been done so far.