Pension for disabled given to 'fit' individuals

In a case of illegality in pension disbursement, the handicap pension by the Haryana government to persons with disabilities has been handed over to individuals with absolutely no disability.

The illegality has come to fore from just one village in Haryana.

As many as 39 physically fit individuals have benefited from the pension, which amounts to around Rs 40 lakh, in the village.

A PIL has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High court in Chandigarh seeking an exhaustive probe into the entire racket of pensions for the disabled being disbursed by the state social justice department.

The petitioner has argued that the magnitude of the illegal disbursement of handicap pensions could be far more, given that there have been 39 such cases alone in just one village.

The high court has issued a notice to the state government in response to the PIL.

Sanjay, a resident of Bhawar village in Sonipat district of Haryana, had complained to the authorities concerned while highlighting the "fraud" disbursements.

A probe undertaken by the department said that as many as 39 physically fit persons with no disability had been given handicap pension of about Rs 40 lakh over a period.

The report of the department formed the basis of the PIL.

In fact, the petitioner has sought to elaborate the scope of the probe while apprehending that there could be similar wrongdoings in the disbursement of pensions for other social welfare schemes and categories, including old-age pension.

It cited another case, separate from handicap pension, where in excess of Rs 4 lakh was handed out as pension to non-beneficiaries.