The Kerala Finance Department has intensified its crackdown on irregularities in the Social Welfare Pension scheme, with Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal ordering a Vigilance probe into fraud allegations in Kottakkal Municipality. The investigation will focus on officials who verified eligibility, issued income certificates, and sanctioned pensions. Administrative departments have been directed to implement the necessary steps, and monthly progress reports on the investigation will be mandatory. This follows a Malappuram Finance Audit inquiry into pension beneficiaries from Ward 7 of Kottakkal Municipality, which found widespread ineligibility among recipients.
The audit revealed that 38 out of 42 pension beneficiaries in Ward 7 were ineligible, with one being deceased. Shockingly, luxury car owners and individuals with service pensions or large, well-equipped homes, including air conditioning, were found to be drawing welfare pensions. The findings suggest significant corruption and conspiracy in manipulating the beneficiary list. The Finance Department audit team flagged this as an organized effort to exploit the scheme, designed to aid the marginalized and economically disadvantaged.
Further scrutiny uncovered that at least 1,458 active government employees, including Gazetted officers, were unlawfully receiving the Rs 1,600 monthly pension. This misappropriation, estimated to have cost the state Rs 23 lakh, emerged during a statewide review of the scheme’s implementation. The Finance Department emphasized that these revelations point to a broader issue of systemic misuse, requiring stringent measures to restore the integrity of the welfare program.