4 lakh pension beneficiaries missing; Cases against officers involved

Punjab, Dec 15: Atleast four lakh beneficiaries of pension are missing in Punjab. Most are not available at their given address or have passed away, a survey by the state government has found.

The missing beneficiaries account for at least 18% of the 19.8 lakh registered with the social welfare department.

The most cases of fake beneficiaries, 32%, were in Bathinda district — home turf of the Badals who have been at the helm of the government for 10 years. Of the 1,11,621 beneficiaries registered there, 35,924 were fake or missing. Amritsar followed, with 25.6% beneficiaries, and Muktsar with 25.2% — Lambi, the home constituency of the former CM falls in this district. Hoshiarpur has the least number of cases, 6.3%, followed by Moga with 8%.

Sources in the welfare department said the government is planning to start a recovery process for the money and action against officers found guilty.The amount to be recovered is in multiple crores of rupees, they said.