Times of India; Julie Mariappan; Wednesday, Apr 27, 2011,
CHENNAI: For the last five years during its tenure, the DMK government had been assiduously cultivating a key votebankthe state's senior citizens. If the numbers in an RTI reply from the state revenue department are any indication, the current DMK government has enrolled more than 10.45 lakh people under various pension schemes in the last five years up to March 2010. Whereas, during the previous AIADMK regime, the department could enrol only 63,107 beneficiaries under various pension schemes.
In his reply to V Gopalakrishnan of Federation of Anti-Corruption, the public information officer of the revenue administration department said that more than 8.94 lakh beneficiaries were included during the five years in the three Central assistance schemes, where the cost incurred is shared by both the Centre and state. Of the three Central assistance schemes, Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme tops the list with 5.1 lakh beneficiaries, with a majority of them in Chennai (1.09 lakh) and Vellore (1.06 lakh).
About 30,859 widows and 3.4 lakh disabled people were enrolled in new schemes like Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme introduced by the Centre in February 2009. Districts like Chennai, Vellore, Salem, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Kancheepuram, Krishnagiri, Tiruchi and Tiruvallur recorded a high number of beneficiaries.
However, the high enrolment numbers have caused concerns. Devi, a CPM councillor, said, "There is a need for an inquiry to find out how many cases are genuine and that the rich have not enrolled in the schemes." She alleged that many genuine cases were overlooked by officialdom. "Eligible individuals were not considered by officials despite possessing valid proofs for disability and widow pension and voter's identity card for old-age pension," she added.
The official records claim that the DMK government has increased monetary assistance to pensioners from Rs 400 to Rs 500 from December 2010, benefiting 9,98,187 pensioners under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme and State Old Age Pension scheme, 93,470 differently-abled destitute persons, 1,13,945 deserted wives, 3,70,425 destitute widows and 3,00,007 destitute agriculture labourers. The government also offers monthly assistance of Rs 500 to 14,270 unmarried women above 50 years of age who are unable to work.
In all, a sum of Rs 4,251 crore has been spent for the social security scheme during the tenure of the DMK government. If the 2010-2011 budget allocated Rs 1,002 crore for the pension schemes, the interim budget presented by finance minister K Anbazhagan, announced an allocation of Rs 1,421 crore in the current fiscal. "With the money being spent to disburse pension through the postal department running into crores, there is a need for scrutiny of beneficiaries to keep ineligible individuals from the list," Gopalakrishnan said.
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