Kerala Pension Fraud: Govt Orders Recovery Of Funds With 18% Interest From Ineligible Recipients

The state’s finance department on Thursday ordered a departmental inquiry and action against officials accused of assisting ineligible persons to obtain social security pensions.

Thiruvananthapuram:The Kerala government has cancelled the social security pensions that were fraudulently given to ineligible persons in the state, officials said on Friday.

The state’s finance department issued a circular on Thursday ordering the recovery of the already drawn funds and an additional 18% interest. It directed a departmental inquiry and action against officials accused of assisting the ineligible persons to obtain social security pensions.

The circular issued by Additional Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak also instructed the municipalities and panchayats to implement the orders in letter and spirit immediately.

The fraud has come to the fore after the department found that the Aadhaar numbers in the pension management system matched with employees' salary records. It was uncovered during an inspection by the Information Kerala Mission, which aims at digitising and networking local self-government institutions in Kerala, following orders from Finance Minister KN Balagopal. Later, an investigation exposed the fraudulent activity, and immediate corrective measures were initiated.

The probe further revealed that several government employees, including differently-abled persons, had illegally claimed the welfare pension under the social security scheme.

“At least 1,458 persons involved in the fraud were gazetted officers and college teachers. They continued to receive a Rs 1,600 monthly pension even after securing government jobs,” officials said.

“The recipients failed to inform authorities that they no longer required the pension,” they said.
The fraudulent claims amounted to more than Rs. 23 lakh each month, leading to an annual loss of approximately Rs. 2.5 crore to the state treasury.

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