Bhubaneswar: Amid reports of age manipulation, the Odisha government has instructed all district collectors to thoroughly verify voter ID cards of social security pension applicants.
According to the letter issued by Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) R S Gopalan, many new applicants were found submitting recently issued voter IDs with altered birth dates or age to become eligible for enhanced benefits.
In January, the BJP government had hiked the monthly pension support from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,500 for for those with 80% disability or aged 80 and above. The minimum social security pension amount under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) was also increased to Rs 1,000.
To prevent fraud, collectors have been directed to insist on the previous voter ID cards of applicants to verify whether the age has been recently amended.
Odisha has around 36.75 lakh MBPY beneficiaries while 21 lakh are under NSAP. As many as 4.2 lakh are getting pension of Rs 3,500.
