The Times of India

India

December 18, 2007

For the elderly, bereft of any social security and left to fend for themselves, old-age pension can be life sustaining. But for the government, it is a matter of vote bank politics. The larger the list of beneficiaries, the better its chances of keeping its votes secure. 

Under the old-age pension scheme, the minimum age limit for eligibility is 60 years for women and 65 years for men. However, that is not how things always turn out. 

In Punjab, it has been found that persons of 45-50 years have also been availing the pension benefits. Since the grant is disbursed through banks, officials have been reporting instances to the social security department where beneficiaries have been found to be "under age". However, instead of taking corrective measures, the department has expressed its helplessness in the matter. 

For opening pension accounts, banks accept ration cards or voter identity card as residential proof. "But in a large number of cases, the age of beneficiaries has been found to be much below than 60 years," a senior bank officer in Faridkot said. 

"For instance, a pension beneficiary came to a branch of PNB bank in Faridkot district yesterday. His date of birth in the voter and ration cards was sometime in 1968. Besides, he did not appear to be older than 40 years of age," he added. The man was given the pension money because of "his closeness to an Akali sarpanch". 

According to bank authorities, out of a total of newly enrolled cases of old age pension enrolled in the area, at least one-third are those of "under-age" beneficiaries. A bank manager had raised the issue — of ineligible pensioners — in a meeting of Bankers Committee at Kotkapura town on November 28. 

According to Gurinder Singh Maur, Bathinda district social security officer, banks have nothing to do with the age of a beneficiary. The job of banks is only to disburse pension while a beneficiary's age is ascertained by a medical officer. "So there is no dispute over the issue," he said. 

However, most of the medical officers giving away age (determination) certificates complain that sarpanches and politicians often exert pressure on them and they don't have a free hand in the matter. 

According to this article, corrupt politicians in India encourage pension fraud, i.e, misrepresenting one’s age when filing for pension monies. The politicians encourage persons under the appropriate age to file for a pension and then work to get the politician elected and re-elected. This corrupt practice of falsifying age is draining government funds allotted to pensions for truly “old persons.” It also makes bankers and others “co-conspirators” since they feel powerless to report the illegal act. 

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