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Social Security Pension Fraud: Haryana cabinet relaxed criteria for recovery of illegally drawn money
HC ordered a preliminary enquiry by CBI into the allegations of misappropriation of social security pension fund, role of SJE officials in failing to secure the interests of public exchequer. The CBI has been directed to file a report before HC in three months by August 24.
Even as a preliminary enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered on May 25 by the Punjab and Haryana high court in the disbursement of old age social security pension to thousands of ineligible beneficiaries in Haryana, it has emerged that Haryana Council of Ministers in 2018 had diluted the criteria for recovery of pension amount illegally drawn by the beneficiaries.
The council of ministers headed by chief minister ML Khattar had on April 11, 2018, approved modifications in a 2011 notification to make life easy for the unentitled beneficiaries, who illegally drew the old age social security pension.
As per a May 8, 2018, notification issued by social justice and empowerment (SJE) department following the council of ministers’ decision, recoveries of the illegally disbursed social security pension amount for cases identified till March 31, 2018, will be made without levying any interest instead of 12% interest per annum levied earlier if the beneficiary had suppressed true information or made a wrong claim for drawing any of the nine social security pensions. The amended provision was a one-time measure for ineligible beneficiaries of nine social security pensions. “Clause No.(e) of notification No 459-SW(4)-2011 dated 10 June, 2011- ”Any benefits received under the scheme by suppressing true information or making wrong claim would be recovered as arrear of land revenue with 12% interest per annum” may be deleted,’’ reads the March 19, 2018 memorandum tabled before the Council of Ministers. The amended provision was a one-time measure for ineligible beneficiaries of nine social security pensions.
Text messages and phone calls made to SJE officials went unanswered.
The watered-down conditions also said in case an ineligible beneficiary becomes eligible at a later stage but is not in a position to deposit recovery amount, the recovery amount will be recovered by the department in monthly instalments which would be equal to 50% of monthly social security pension amount. However, the existing condition that beneficiaries will be liable for criminal prosecution in case of forgery or if the documents were tampered with remained unchanged.
Former SJE principal secretary opposed the move to relax recovery conditions
Documents accessed by the HT showed that the council of ministers’ memorandum for diluting the conditions of recovery was first tabled and deferred on September 13, 2017, as a new administrative secretary of the SJE department was at the helm.
However, the new SJE administrative secretary in a September 20, 2017, note opposed the move of relaxing the recovery conditions. In his note, the incumbent administrative secretary wrote that the April 10, 2017, note of the then SJE principal secretary approved by the minister of state for social justice and chief minister is self-contradictory and unreasonable.
“The proposal (to change criteria for recovering money from ineligible beneficiaries) emanates from April 9, 2017, public announcement made by the chief minister’s at Sirsa (code 18389), Those who drew social security pensions when ineligible had committed a fraud and caused wrongful to government money. The forgery was committed with or without collusion of government staff. Such persons are liable for recovery, criminal prosecution and debarment for life from any social security benefits in the future,” the September 2017 noting reads. The officer was however transferred in November 2017 and the relaxations were approved by the Council of Ministers in April 2018.
‘Karnal alone accounted for 24,649 illegal beneficiaries’
The then administrative secretary wrote that as of April 2017, a sum of ₹49.15 crore is outstanding against 37,858 beneficiaries. “Karnal district alone accounts for 24,649 beneficiaries with an outstanding amount of ₹18.04 crore. If the CM’s announcement is implemented, then an interest of ₹17.11 crore will have to be waived off and the principal amount of ₹32.04 crore wrongly drawn several years ago will have to treated as deferred interest free loans over an estimated period of 10-15 years,’’ the noting reads.
Karnal also happens to be the home constituency of the CM. The September 2017 noting said the CM announcement, if implemented, would have a serious deleterious effect on honest administration of government schemes in future.
“These 37,858 persons who cheated cannot make the remaining 2.8 crore people suffer for their misdeeds. Such wrongs bring disrepute to governance and deserve no sympathy. I recommend that persons who committed fraud must be debarred for life, recovery of money should continue and criminal prosecution be started. However, if they express remorse and deposit the wrongly received money with 12% interest as per the existing rule, the debarment for life may be lifted,” the then SJE administrative secretary wrote.
A HC bench of Justice Vinod Bhardwaj had on May 25 ordered a preliminary enquiry by the CBI into the allegations of misappropriation of social security pension fund, role and involvement of SJE officials by conscious omissions or dereliction and failing to secure the interests of the state and public exchequer. The CBI has been directed to file a report before HC in three months by August 24.
