Delhi govt surveys old-age pensioners, flags potential 20% exclusion

New Delhi: The Delhi government has begun a survey of beneficiaries under its old-age pension scheme to verify their eligibility, with around 20% of recipients estimated to be potentially excluded following the exercise, according to officials familiar with the development

New Delhi: The Delhi government has begun a survey of beneficiaries under its old-age pension scheme to verify their eligibility, with around 20% of recipients estimated to be potentially excluded following the exercise, according to officials familiar with the development.

The survey, which will be conducted by a third-party agency, is expected to be completed within three months. The exercise aims to verify details of existing beneficiaries and identify those who may no longer meet the eligibility criteria for receiving financial assistance under the scheme.

“There will be a door to door survey. It is estimated that some of the beneficiaries might have passed away. There might also be cases where a woman is receiving pension on behalf of her deceased spouse and also for herself. Such cases will be addressed during this survey,” said an official.

The government currently provides monthly pensions to senior citizens in two categories. Beneficiaries aged between 60 and 69 years receive ₹2,000 per month, while those aged 70 years and above are entitled to ₹2,500 per month. There are around 436,000 beneficiaries.

The verification exercise comes amid efforts to review the existing beneficiary base and ensure that pension benefits reach eligible senior citizens. The survey is expected to help the government identify discrepancies in beneficiary records and weed out ineligible recipients, if any.

However, the final number of beneficiaries who may be excluded will depend on the findings of the survey.

The government has a substantial beneficiary base under the scheme, with figures cited for the programme indicating that several lakh senior citizens depend on the monthly assistance. The exercise will establish how many of the existing recipients continue to qualify for the pension.

The old-age pension scheme is among the Delhi government’s social welfare measures aimed at providing financial support to elderly residents, particularly those who depend on assistance to meet their day-to-day expenses.

An evaluation study conducted by the planning department of the government had found in August this year that nearly 13,000 beneficiaries of the senior citizen pension scheme had incomplete residential addresses, and 48 of them had no address.