Bihar Identifies 2 Lakh Deceased Pensioners Still Receiving Benefits; Government Begins Recovery Process

Patna: In a shocking revelation, the Bihar government has identified nearly two lakh deceased individuals whose bank accounts continued to receive pension payments. The state has now issued strict directives to recover the wrongly disbursed funds and remove all such names from the beneficiary list.

Dead Beneficiaries Detected in Old-Age Pension Scheme

During a review meeting on Wednesday, Social Welfare Department Secretary Vandana Preyasi directed district officials to conduct immediate physical verification of all beneficiaries under the old-age pension scheme. She emphasized that recovery of funds deposited into the accounts of deceased beneficiaries must be ensured without delay.

The discovery came during an assessment of pension, death, and marriage grant schemes. Officials found that despite the beneficiaries’ deaths, pension amounts continued to be transferred due to outdated or unverified records.

Mass Verification Drive to Begin

To fast-track the process, Preyasi instructed that physical verification be carried out through Common Service Centres (CSCs). District Social Security Cell officers have been told to coordinate with CSC district managers to deploy around 80,000 personnel for the verification exercise.

Multiple Biometric Options to Prevent Future Irregularities

To avoid technical issues that previously led to wrongful disbursements, CSCs have been asked to offer multiple authentication options, including:

• Fingerprint verification
• Iris scan
• Facial recognition

These measures aim to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries receive payments in the future.

Targets Set for Other Welfare Schemes

The secretary also reviewed progress under other schemes, directing officials to meet annual targets for the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, which currently has 1,10,863 beneficiaries against a central cap of 1,27,100.

Additionally, the low performance in the Kabir Antyeshti Yojana (funeral assistance) and the National Family Benefit Scheme was flagged, with instructions to achieve at least 50% of annual targets by December 2025.

Preyasi: “Transparency is Non-Negotiable”

Vandana Preyasi stressed that physical verification must be conducted with “complete transparency and sensitivity” to ensure such discrepancies never occur again. She also ordered swift disposal of all pending applications and strict adherence to SOPs during the recovery process.