The Odisha government has announced that from April 1 only beneficiaries with Aadhaar card will be given pension under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and the Madhubabu Pension Yojana (MBPY).
The warning came after Aadhaar seeding of all beneficiaries under the NSAP and the MBPY could not be completed by October last year.
Aadhaar seeding is about 91% in case of NSAP and about 73% for MBPY in Odisha. Under the NSAP, elderly, widows and persons with disabilities get pension.
The MBPY beneficiaries, who include elderly, widows, persons with disabilities and HIV/AIDS-affected patients, get ₹500 to ₹700 per month. But they must not be part of any Central schemes.
‘Ensuring transparency’
In a letter addressed to all collectors, Bhaskar Sarma, secretary, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department, said: “Aadhaar seeding needs to be enhanced to 100% immediately for ensuring complete transparency in respect of these two schemes.”
“Beneficiaries whose Aadhaar verification or seeding is pending will be asked to mandatorily bring a copy of their Aadhaar card when they come to receive their pension on January 15,” Mr. Sarma said.
Beneficiaries without Aadhaar card will be taken to block office on January 15, where a team will collect their particulars for issue of Aadhaar card. Subsequently, the process of capturing Aadhaar particulars of beneficiaries without Aadhaar card will be completed by January 31.
