Bhubaneswar: Despite the pressure from the Union government to ensure Aadhaar seeding of the pensioners in the state, 40 per cent of the pensioners are still receiving the payments without Aadhaar verification.
According to the data procured from the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the state, till now only 29,11,743 (60 per cent) pensioners have had their Aadhaar data verified out of the total number of pensioners from the state. Around 40 per cent of the pensioners are still getting paid without Aadhaar verification.
The data suggests that in Odisha a total of 48,00,838 pensioners are drawing pensions due to old age, disabilities, sickness and others. The pension includes the Central assistance under the NSAP and the state sponsored Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY). However when it comes to the total number of Aadhaar numbers mentioned without verification with the pension accounts, the percentage surges to 70 per cent.
In the state, the department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) which implements the pensions in the state, under pressure from the Centre, is also trying to give impetus to the seeding of Aadhaar data for the pensioners.
In a recent communication from the SSEPD to the District Social Security officers (DSSOs), the department has asked them to ensure early seeding of Aadhaar of the beneficiaries. It also warned that all those officials who are not well versed with updating the systems could be replaced by other efficient persons.
The department, last year, had asked all the gram panchayats to seek Aadhaar data from the beneficiaries and inform the office accordingly to seed them with the pension accounts. Despite the payments of pensions through cash, money order or banks, Aadhaar seeding was given importance from the department.
The data from the Union government shows that while around 48 lakh pensions are entitled
for the government assistance
in the state, a total of 622 transgender are also receiving the pensions with disclosure of their
gender identity. The data also suggest that more women from the state are receiving pensions from the government.
