Hyderabad: Government employees in Telangana state have siphoned off crores of rupees in public funds meant for social security pensions for the poor. The social audit conducted by panchayat raj department revealed that on an average 2,000 government employees in each district were claiming pension of Rs 1,000 per month on the name of their family members.
As per norms, family members of a government employee are not eligible for social welfare pensions. In some cases, retired government staff members were also found to be claiming pensions against norms.
Shockingly, in Medak district alone, the home district of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao; it was found that family members of about 2,970 government employees were claiming pensions.
The irregularities came to light when officials linked the employees’ details with their health card and Aadhaar through a special software programming with the assistance of Tata Consultancy Services.
It was found that around Rs 3.50 crore was siphoned off by fake beneficiaries since November last year, when the new pension scheme was launched. Same is the case with Nizamabad, Karimangar and Ranga Reddy districts. It was found that over 2,300 fake beneficiaries claimed pensions.
Pension irregularities increased after TRS government hiked the amount by five times from Rs 200 per month to Rs 1,000.
