Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed Social Welfare Department to bring a Cabinet proposal of old age pension scheme to make the system foolproof. A three-member committee headed by Chief Secretary DM Spolia was formed to look into the matter and form a policy.
The committee will also see that whether number of old age pensioners should be increased to 4.50 lakh. The council of Ministers' meeting was convened on Thursday to discuss the issues related to the old age pension scheme.
During the meeting, Ministers were annoyed that discrepancies in old age pension may mislead the people during the elections' year. The Ministers blamed that it is the duty of the department to ensure that old age pension is being disbursed to eligible persons.
Officials of finance department said that it was strange that the number of old age pensioners in Haryana was decreasing while it was increasing in Delhi.
According to survey conducted by Anganwadi workers, out of 3.90 lakh pensioners, 1.75 lakh are above 70 years. Of these, 18,000 pensioners were found dead while 89,000 were not traceable.
The Government has stopped releasing of old age pension from April this year after the survey report. In May this year, Delhi Cabinet had approved a proposal to increase additional 40,000 cases over and above the sanctioned 3.5 lakh limit that have already been registered and were remitted assistance in 2012-13.
The scheme had started with assistance of `50 per person in 1975, enhanced over the years to present up to `1,000 per month per person to those between 60-69 years of age and `1,500 to those who are 70 years and above. An additional `500 is given to those belonging to the SC/ST/Minority categories.