Blink News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 2: The Odisha government has now decided that from April 1, 2020 no pensioner from the state will be given their pensions if they fail to link their pensions with their Aadhar numbers. The orders from the top to the district levels have already been shared.
In the recent notification, the principal secretary of the state Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) has asked all the 30 Collectors to stop paying pensions for the widows, elderly and the differently able who fail to link their Aadhar with their pensions.
In the notification to all collectors, the SSEPD department said, “Starting from April 1, 2020 pensions under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) will not be disbursed without Aadhaar,”
The department has meanwhile asked several things to the collectors to ensure linking of data with the pension accounts. As per the officials statistics till now 91 per cent of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) accounts and 73 per cent of Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) pension accounts have been linked with Aadhaar. The SSEPD department has now set the target of 100 per cent seeding by the March 15, 2020.
The orders from the department has also asked Block Level Officials to ensure that the all the pensioners who do not have their Aadhar numbers should be equipped with the required cards to ensure universal linkage of Aadhar with pension accounts.
Talking to the media, SSEPD secretary Bhaskar Sarma said that there was no need to worry on the matter as by the end of March 31,2020 all pensioners will have Aadhar numbers and also their linking of the same with their pension accounts.
The state has been disbursing the NSAP pensions (central government pensions) and the MBPY (state government pension scheme) through the bank accounts, cash disbursements and also home deliveries. Many old and the vulnerable are dependent on pensions for their survival. Such pensions pay the beneficiaries anything from Rs 500-Rs 700 depending upon the scheme and the category.
