Survey on to weed out ‘fake’ recipients of women pension

New Delhi: Following complaints of "fake" beneficiaries drawing financial assistance meant for "women in distress", Delhi govt has initiated a survey of registered pensioners across the city. According to officials, anganwadi workers have been enlisted for the exercise. They are visiting the registered addresses of each beneficiary and verifying their antecedents. A final report is likely to be submitted by the end of this month. Any "fake" beneficiary identified during the verification drive will be removed from the list of pensioners.A senior Delhi govt official said that the department of women and child development had received complaints that some women had obtained forged papers to get the monthly pension that is given to women in distress. The department conducted a random check and found cases of ineligible women drawing the pension under the scheme."The verification drive is being carried out to ensure that financial assistance under the scheme is extended only to genuine beneficiaries and to identify and weed out any ineligible beneficiaries, discrepancies or irregularities," an official said. "This drive is critical to safeguarding the objectives of the scheme and minimising potential losses."According to officials, nearly 3.8 lakh "women in distress", including widowed, divorced, separated and destitute women, receive a monthly pension of Rs 2,500. The scheme was introduced in 2007-08 to help economically poor widows who needed a regular source of income. In the first year of the scheme, 6,288 women received Rs 600 each month as financial help from govt. As per the Economic Survey of Delhi – 2023-24, 3,74,516 women in distress received the monthly pension in Dec 2023. The financial aid is provided to eligible beneficiaries aged 18 years and above who have been residents of Delhi for the last five years and whose annual family income is not more than rupees one lakh.