Doubts over beneficiaries: MVA might scrap MISA pension plan

Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, led by Uddhav Thackeray, is likely to scrap a scheme by the former Devendra Fadnavis government to provide pension to

Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, led by Uddhav Thackeray, is likely to scrap a scheme by the former Devendra Fadnavis government to provide pension to those imprisoned during the 1975 Emergency.

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Currently, about 3,452 beneficiaries who were imprisoned, get ~10,000 every month under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) pension scheme.

The decision is being considered in response to the demand by the Congress, one of the three ruling parties, and reports of irregularities by some of the district administrations.

The previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had announced the scheme in July 2018, of giving pension to those jailed during the Emergency imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

The cabinet sub-committee, headed by then revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, had submitted a report on the scheme which needs no submission of any documents except for an affidavit of having been imprisoned under the MISA. Those who were jailed for over one month get ~10,000 per month, while those with a lesser term are entitled to ~5,000 per month. After their demise, spouses of such prisoners were entitled to 50% of the pension amount.

The Patil committee also recommended implementing the scheme with retrospective effect and it came into existence from January 2018. Besides the existing beneficiaries, about 6,000 more applications are pending with various district collectors for approval.

Many collectors, however, have raised serious doubts over the beneficiaries and applicants as they are not mandated through any scrutiny of being eligible for the scheme.

“State government spends ~41.42 crore annually on the existing beneficiaries. As per the previous government’s diktat, the applicants are not required to submit any documents leaving room for bogus applications. We have found that there are a large number of beneficiaries from Buldhana where no movement against the Emergency was known to have taken place. We have put the remaining applications on hold after receiving the complaints,” said an official from the general administration department on the condition of anonymity.

The official said that giving the status of the freedom fighters to such prisoners and treating both at par was unjust. “The freedom fighters need to go through stringent scrutiny by the crime investigation teams, but here just self-declaration is sufficient,” the official added.

Congress’s Nitin Raut has written a letter to the CM demanding to discontinue the scheme.