Punjab to weed out ineligible pension beneficiaries

CHANDIGARH:Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday set in motion the process of increasing old-age pensions while approving new criteria to ensure that only bona fide candidates benwefit from the state’s financial assistance schemes.

He also directed the department of social security and women & child development to undertake a survey of the existing beneficiaries, which could be clubbed with the ongoing review of the ‘Atta-Dal’ scheme beneficiaries, to weed out the ineligible candidates from the list.

Chairing a department meeting here, Amarinder directed the introduction of new forms, with the new criteria, to be filled up by all pensioners, including the existing ones, in order to streamline the process and free the beneficiaries from the clutches of sarpanches and nambardars.

The existing pensioners, however, will continue to get the pension benefit pending review of the list, it was decided at the meeting.

All existing beneficiaries will be required to fill new forms till June-end to become eligible for drawing pension from April 2017 onwards, with a provision for 5% random check by deputy commissioner, SDM, etc., as per the new norms agreed upon at the meeting.

Disclosing details of the meeting, an official spokesperson said the CM also initiated the process of implementation of the Congress promise to enhance old-age pension.

The meeting decided to introduce quarterly pension to bring about greater transparency in the system.

As per the new criteria, Aadhaar card will replace ration card as certification document for all applicants, who would also be required to verify their land ownership, which would then be re-verified from the Patwari.

The verification process for both urban and rural pensions will be simplified with the applicants only required to provide a self-declaration instead of the current system of verification from municipal councillor in case of urban pensioners and, in case of rural, from one either two Panchayat members or one panchayat member along with sarpanch/numbardar/block samiti member, zila parishad chairperson or member.

All applications would be received by the district social security office (DSSO) and the applicants would be intimated of the acceptance or rejection of their applications within a month, it was further decided at the meeting.

During the check, if an applicant is found ineligible then recovery of the double amount shall be made from those who recommended/certified the case. This recovery shall be made under Arrears of Land Revenue Act. CHANDIGARH The Haryana government will procure seeds of sunflower at a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3,950 per quintal during the current procurement season, according to chief secretary DS Dhesi.

The sunflower crop is grown mainly in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Panchkula and Yamunanagar districts. The Centre had decided the MSP of Rs 3,950 per quintal for 2017-18, and had made National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) the central nodal agency for procurement of sunflower. The state government has authorised Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) for procurement of sunflower.

The chief secretary held a review meeting on procurement of sunflower on Friday. The HAFED has been procuring sunflower for the past two years.

CM ALSO DIRECTS THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT TO UNDERTAKE A SURVEY OF THE EXISTING BENEFICIARIES