894 ineligible people identified for receiving old age pension in Odisha’s Jajpur

Jajpur: Altogether 894 ineligible people have fraudulently received benefits under an old-age pension scheme in Odisha’s Jajpur district and have been asked to return the money, officials said on Sunday.

These people have availed of the financial benefit under the old-age pension scheme by allegedly producing fake documents, they said.

The fraud came to the fore at Binjharpur block of Jajpur district, following which the officials swung into action.

“We inquired about an allegation from the block that ineligible people were receiving old age pensions by producing fake documents. During the probe, we detected 894 fake beneficiaries in at least 29 gram panchayats, who were taking old age pension fraudulently by producing fake documents from September 2023 to September 2024.

"Hence, we have sent notices to them to refund all old-age pension money they had received,” Binjharpur BDO Hitanshu Samal said.

The BDO said officials visited the residences of the ineligible people and served notices to them.

"If they fail to refund the money that they had taken fraudulently, the administration will take legal action against them," he said.

Last year, the complaint was lodged with former BDO Dibyendu Kumar Das that an irregularity took place as several ineligible beneficiaries took old age pension fraudulently.

During the probe, the then BDO found irregularities to the tune of Rs 90 lakh and immediately alerted the district collector before lodging a complaint against the Block Social Security Officer (BSSO) Dharmendra Sahoo.

Based on the BDO’s complaint, the Binjharpur police had registered a case and launched a probe into the alleged irregularities, another official said.

The then BSSO was also placed under suspension by the district administration, he added.