Officials told to recover funds, says KT Rama Rao

Hyderabad: The government is disbursing pensions to 36 lakh beneficiaries, which has been imposing a financial burden of Rs 4,500 crore per year on the state exchequer. However, 30 per cent of the beneficiaries are feared to be fake and to detect the fraud the PR department has began social auditing of beneficiaries using technology.

Though only one member in a family is eligible for pension, it was found that there were multiple beneficiaries in a household and old-age pensions being claimed by both husband and wife. Panchayat raj minister K.T. Rama Rao said the auditing is being done to ensure that only genuine get the benefit

“The government is spending Rs 4,500 crore every year on pensions. Except TS,  no other state is spending such a massive amount on pensions for the welfare of the poor. When such a huge amount is involved, it is our responsibility to ensure that there is no misuse of funds and the benefits reach only the genuine. The government will continue the auditing to filter the fake beneficiaries,” Mr Rama Rao said.

He said officials were asked to recover siphoned-off money from fake beneficiaries by invoking the Revenue Recovery Act and the process was on.
 

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