22 Uttar Pradesh women wrongly got widow pension

Lucknow: Twenty-two married women with living husbands have been found to be receiving widows’ pension in Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh.

The matter came to light after one Sandeep Kumar in Batsganj village checked his wife’s bank account and discovered that she had been receiving widows' pension. On further queries, he found that his mother-in-law and sister-in-law were recei-ving the pension even though their husbands were alive.

Later, it was found that other women in the same village had been availing the widows’ pension. Mr Kumar informed the officials concerned but claims he is receiving threats for taking up the matter with the authorities.

Ashwini Kumar, a district probation officer, said  an official had already been terminated for this scam.