Posted at: May 31 2015 1:55AM
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 30
Having drawn flak from various quarters for alleged delay in verifying genuine social security pensioners, the state government has finally managed to earmark the beneficiaries and link their Jan-Dhan Yojana accounts with their Aadhaar cards. From the coming week, the state will disburse pension to the elderly, widows, differently abled and dependent children through their bank accounts, in Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) districts.
The beneficiaries in these districts will get their pensions straight in their accounts, opened under the Jan-Dhan Yojana, around June 7.
With this, the payment of social security pensions through banks will start in 12 districts of the state, including the above mentioned four. Pensions are being already distributed through banks in Bathinda, Mansa, Patiala, Faridkot, Patiala, Ludhiana, Muktsar and partially in Fazilka.
Though the government wanted to pay the entire amount of social security pension (around Rs 692 crore) from January, it has been delayed. It was because of this delay, in linking the bank account with Aadhaar card that 83-year-old Somnath immolated himself at Dhilwan in Kapurthala last month.
Ever since the incident, the state government has been in an overdrive to quickly roll out the scheme. Sources in the Finance Department said over 2,000 banking correspondents had been deputed in various districts across the state to personally meet all beneficiaries, verify their antecedents and after collecting details of their Jan-Dhan Yojana or no-frill accounts, link their pension accounts with their Aadhaar cards.
“This exercise took more time than targeted. But we are now hopeful that even in districts of Amritsar, Moga, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar, Jalandhar and Ferozepur, we will be able to transfer pensions directly into the accounts of beneficiaries within the next two months,” said a senior official in the Finance Department.