37,000 pensioners yet to complete verification

Metro India News | MEDCHAL

The ongoing facial authentication drive for beneficiaries under the Cheyutha pension scheme has exposed suspected irregularities in pension disbursement in Medchal-Malkajgiri district. Officials say thousands of beneficiaries are yet to complete the mandatory verification, while the exercise has also identified pensions being credited in the names of deceased persons, raising concerns over bogus beneficiaries and misuse of public funds.

The district has around 1.39 lakh pension beneficiaries, including old-age pensioners, widows, single women, beedi workers and persons with disabilities. Of these, 1,02,240 beneficiaries receive their pensions directly through bank accounts. However, nearly 37,000 bank-linked beneficiaries have not completed the mandatory live facial authentication, leaving officials uncertain about their identity and current status.

According to officials, pensioners receiving benefits through post offices are verified through fingerprint authentication before payments are made. In contrast, those receiving pensions through banks continue to get monthly credits without regular physical verification. The facial authentication drive was introduced by the State government to ensure that pensions reach only genuine and living beneficiaries while eliminating bogus entries from the database.

Authorities said repeated appeals and awareness campaigns have been conducted, informing beneficiaries that failure to complete facial authentication could result in suspension of pensions. While most genuine beneficiaries responded immediately, the continued absence of nearly 37,000 pensioners has heightened suspicions that many of the pending cases may involve bogus beneficiaries or people who are no longer eligible.

The deadline for completing the authentication process was initially fixed for the second week of June but has since been extended several times to avoid hardship for genuine beneficiaries. Even after the extensions, a large number of beneficiaries are yet to undergo verification. Kukatpally accounts for the highest number of pending cases with around 10,000 beneficiaries, followed by Malkajgiri (5,700), Kapra (4,000), Qutbullapur (3,975), Uppal (2,074), while nearly 10,000 others are spread across the remaining areas of the district.

The verification exercise has also revealed that 920 pension beneficiaries in the district have died. Officials said that unless their names are removed from the records after submission of death certificates, pension amounts continue to be credited to their bank accounts. Family members are allegedly withdrawing these amounts using ATM cards, resulting in an estimated Rs.20 lakh being withdrawn every month in the names of deceased beneficiaries.

Officials also suspect that some beneficiaries belong to Andhra Pradesh and a few northern states and may be availing welfare benefits in more than one state. They alleged that in the past, local intermediaries facilitated pension approvals for both eligible and ineligible applicants by manipulating age and beneficiary records. District Rural Development Officer Sambasiva Rao urged all pensioners receiving benefits through banks to complete facial authentication immediately, warning that pensions of those who fail to complete the process will be stopped.