TNN Oct 20, 2013, 12.48AM IST
KOZHIKODE: The city corporation will soon launch a special drive to ensure linking of Aadhaar card numbers of pension beneficiaries to their bank accounts.
The initiative has been taken after the corporation authorities found that many of the pension beneficiaries within the corporation limits are yet to link their Aadhaar card numbers with their respective bank accounts even when the government has made the linking mandatory. The government had issued a directive asking the people to link their Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) of various pension schemes.
Authorities said they have already held talks with the officials of the Akshaya centres in this regard. They would initiate steps to help pensioners, especially the bed-ridden people in the city corporation limit to get their Aadhaar numbers linked with their respective bank accounts. As per the decision taken, the Akshaya officials will visit the houses of bed-ridden beneficiaries and collect their details necessary for the procedure.
According to the records at the city corporation office, there are 1,223 old-age pension beneficiaries in the corporation limit, of which only 196 have linked their Aadhaar numbers with their bank accounts. Of the 3,607 people in the physically-challenged pension category, only 679 have linked their Aadhaar numbers with the bank accounts and in the widow pension category, out of the 16,018 beneficiaries, only 5,425 have linked their Aadhaar cards with the bank accounts.
Meanwhile, social welfare standing committee chairperson M Radhakrishnan said the civic body has written a letter to the state government seeking to extend the deadline for linking Aadhaar cards with bank accounts for pension fund transfer directly to the beneficiaries till December 31. "We have decided to carry out the special drive as records show that only 25% of the beneficiaries of various pension schemes residing in the corporation limit have linked their Aadhaar cards with their bank accounts," he said, adding that the officials at the respective Akshaya centres have assured to begin the process soon.