In a shocking incident, a case of wrongful withdrawal of pension came to light from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh where a man had been withdrawing widow pension since 2009. There have been reports of the Andhra Pradesh government’s pension scheme meant for senior citizens, widows and disabled people being misused and people who aren’t eligible for it have been taking benefits from the scheme.
The accused has been identified as Kashim of Eddupenta village in Done Mandal of Kurnool district who recently moved to Guntur. On April 4, he met with a welfare assistant and produced his pension book meant for a widow issued back in 2009. Despite not being eligible for the pension as he is aged below 58 years, Kashim had been taking the widow pension for the last 12 years.
The welfare assistant noticed the ‘fault’ where a man not eligible for pension was receiving one for widows. On being questioned, Kashim said he had been getting the money after his wife passed away. The official alerted the Eddupenta village Secretariat and revenue Mandal officials about the incident and an inquiry was initiated.
The error had occurred back in 2009 only, but owing to the small amount of money involved, it went unchecked. The same amount has been increased to Rs 2,000 per month under chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy’s tenure.
A probe has now been initiated to ascertain if the error was ignored because of small amount of money involved or was a deliberate scam.
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