Will take strict action against all wrongdoers, says Kerala CM Vijayan on social welfare pension scam

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 30 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who chaired a special meeting here on Saturday to discuss the further course in the controversial social welfare pension scheme, said strict action will be taken against all the wrongdoers.

The controversy surfaced early this week when the state-run Information Kerala Mission (IKM) found out that several serving government officials and those getting other pensions were getting the Rs 1,600 monthly social welfare pension, which is given to the poor and weaker sections of society.

On Friday, reports surfaced that among those who are receiving this pension is a BMW owner.

The review meeting chaired by Vijayan comes a day after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau was asked to conduct a detailed probe into the scam.

State Finance Minister K.N.Balagopal and numerous top officials from various government departments that are connected with the distribution of the social welfare pension were also present at the meeting.

A statement issued by Vijayan’s office said the CM has promised stiff action against those who have illegally taken this pension and those who prepared the list of beneficiaries.

"Those who received it will have to pay it back with interest. Action will be taken against officials who included ineligible people in the list. This cannot be seen as an error and hence, strict action will be there. From now on, the annual mustering of the pensioners will be made foolproof," it said.

Since the IKM came out with a report that at least 1,458 serving government officials including gazetted officers, have been regularly receiving the Rs 1,600 monthly dole, a question that has arisen is if the state government will come out with the list of these fraudsters.

According to estimates of the IKM, a sum of Rs 23 lakh has been used to pay these serving government officials, till now, this year.

Among those who are currently getting the pension include school and college teachers, and employees working in the Health and other departments of the state government.

In Kerala, there are around 60 lakh) people who get the monthly social welfare pension and at times, the pension goes into arrears too, since the state government exchequer is currently in dire straits.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the probe will cover the CAG report which had earlier pointed out that the list includes over 9,000 ineligible people who have taken away Rs 39 crore in the three-year period starting from 2017.

It also remains to be seen if the list of those who did the wrong will be published, as demanded by the state BJP President K.Surendran.

--IANS

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