Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government claimed to have streamlined the social welfare scheme in which elderly citizens and widows are given a monthly assistance of Rs 1000. However, this paltry amount, which is transferred into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, has not come easy for them, though. It has taken months for each beneficiary to register and link his account with Aadhar to avail of one thousand rupees.
For Ghulam Nabi, an elderly man in Kashmir, the assistance is yet to reach his bank account as his application was rejected twice in the last two years. Nabi said he applied again three months before, and his account has now been verified, but the amount is yet to come.
“It was no less than climbing a hilltop for me. In the last two years, I have knocked on the tehsil social welfare office, Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch, and Aadhar centre to verify my documents. It took almost three years to complete the exercise,” he told ETV Bharat.
The Jammu and Kashmir government launched a "wedding" exercise two years ago to verify the beneficiaries by asking them to link their bank accounts with Aadhar cards.
This exercise created a hue and cry in the Union Territory among the old-aged citizens, widows, women in distress, persons with disabilities (PwDs), and transgenders who had to toil hard moving to social welfare offices, banks, and Aadhar Centres to verify their accounts.
The social welfare department provides financial support to citizens who are 60 years and above in the case of males and 55 years or above in the case of females with meagre sources of income.
It took months for the beneficiaries to verify their accounts and get financial support.
“Assistance is now coming directly into our accounts, but the instalments are not seamless. This month we got the one-month assistance after four months. Three months are pending,” Ghulam Hassan, a PwD beneficiary, told ETV Bharat.
He said the verification process was very cumbersome, and it took months to streamline the accounts and update them. “Imagine our difficulty moving from social welfare offices to banks and Aadhar Centers. It was a nightmare for us,” he said.
Hassan added that the government streamlined the transfer of assistance, but it didn't provide the support for those months that went into verification of beneficiaries.
“The government must release that amount, which was not given to us during the period of verification,” he said.
A Tehsil Social Welfare Officer (TSWO) told ETV Bharat that the exercise took months during which many discrepancies, like double accounts of the same beneficiaries, ineligible persons, and fake beneficiaries, were removed.
“We understand the verification took a lot of time, but it streamlined the scheme and made it transparent. Now only deserving citizens are enlisted and getting small assistance,” he said, adding that merely five per cent of citizens must still be facing issues with Aadhar verification.
Director of Social Welfare Kashmir, Muhammad Akbar Wani, said the total number of beneficiaries enlisted in the Kashmir Valley is 444,374.
“Of them, 331,588 are old-aged persons, 40,628 are widows or women in distress, 72,027 are persons with disabilities (PwDs), and 131 are transgenders,” Wani told ETV Bharat.
Wani said that 105,700 ineligible persons were removed during the verification process as these were undeserving or some had double accounts in different districts.
“The scheme is state-funded and incurs cores of rupees annually. This financial year (2025) the department has kept a budget of Rs 1200 crore for the beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The ruling National Conference government has promised in its manifesto to enhance the old age and widow pension to Rs 3000 per month from Rs 1000 being given at present.
“After 4 months, one instalment was released. The release of the money is very slow. Also, the pending instalments of the beneficiaries must be released,” Hassan told ETV Bharat.
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