Telangana: Aadhaar scam for pensions surfaces
Hyderabad: The over-dependence of the Telangana state government on Aadhaar cards to identify genuine beneficiaries of welfare schemes has been prompting officials and public representatives to resort to irregularities.
Around Rs 2 crore is being siphoned off every month since last November by manipulating age details on Aadhaar.
All districts in Telangana have been witnessing heavy rush for re-enrolment at Aadhaar centres seeking age correction to secure enhanced pensions from the government. And lack of proper verification mechanisms at the centres to confirm the age of applicants is making the job easier in manipulating age details on Aadhaar.
Read: Aadhaar card staff violate norms
Medak, the home district of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao tops the list with about 19,000 people applying for age correction in Aadhaar cards. Similarly, in Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy districts, number of age correction applications stand at 18,000, 17,000 and 16,000 respectively.
The remaining six districts have witnessed age correction applications ranging from 10,000 to 15,000.