7.39 lakh people excluded from social security pension in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: 7.39 lakh persons in the state, including those who have passed away, will no longer be eligible to receive social security pensions. The panchayat directorate has handed over the revised list to the finance department after mustering.

Social security pensions were distributed for the last time in the month of June this year. The beneficiaries are yet to receive their pensions for the remaining months. The panchayat directorate has handed over the list for distribution of pensions in the month of July. 

An individual is given Rs 1,600 as social security pension every month. However, the revised list of beneficiaries prepared after mustering will help the state government save an expenditure of Rs 115.68 crores in the month of July. This comes as a major relief to the government as pensions for three months are yet to be distributed.

Eligible candidates who have been left out from the pensioner’s list for failing to complete the mustering process can complete the same at the earliest and submit the required documents for being reincluded in the list.   

Mustering is done every year to prove that the beneficiaries are alive.

Meanwhile, 1.3 beneficiaries have been removed from the widow pensioners list for failing to produce the certificates establishing that they are not remarried. 

In the month of June, the pensions were availed by widows of 42,000 individuals who were iconfirmed to be deceased.

However, post mustering, 169 beneficiaries with an annual income of more than Rs 1 lakh and 22 of them with vehicles having engine capacity of more than 1000 cc have been excluded from the list. Another 165 individuals have voluntarily opted out of the list due to better living circumstances.

Earlier several individuals who were availing government salaries and service pensions were accused of availing social security pensions. However, only 100 such cases could be detected in the mustering process.