Hyderabad: The voter’s list mapped with Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) data will be used to identify beneficiaries of Aasara Pension, one of the first poll promises to be fulfilled by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
The voter’s list had a lot of omissions as was evident from the number of voters deleted from the list and the protests on polling day. Since the state government has decided to extend Aasara pensions to all persons who crossed 57 years and directed district collectors to send the list of beneficiaries based on the voters’ list, eyebrows were raised about the authenticity of the list.
Voters had complained that their names were missing this time though they had voted in the general election in 2014. The electoral rolls were reportedly revised in 2015 using SKS and Aadhaar data which left out several names so people couldn't vote on December 7.
The Election Commission has put the onus on citizens to check if their names are on the voter’s list and enrol again if they are not.
The EC will be updating the rolls from December 26. Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi said on Monday, “The village wise and district wise beneficiaries list should be sent within three days.” This will create selective offering of pensions, and a set of citizens might be excluded and pensions may not reach the intended beneficiaries.
Both the SKS data and selection deletion matters are sub judice. The government earlier stated that the SKS data is meant only for official purposes and not for public use.
According to an official, “Government intends to publish the draft list of new Aasara beneficiaries in village Gram Sabhas. The draft guidelines and proforma will be communicated. Collectors will sanction the pensions and all measures will be taken to remove the undeserving. The deserving and undeserving beneficiaries list also will be made available at Gram Sabhas for verification. Citizens can file complaints with the collector which will be approved or rejected by the collector.”
Persons with annual income not exceeding Rs 1 lakh in rural areas and Rs 2 lakh in towns are eligible to draw pension under the scheme.
