Shimla — Widespread irregularities have been uncovered in the social security pension schemes of Himachal Pradesh, revealing that over 37,000 deceased persons have remained on pension rolls and continued to receive payments for years. The state government has now initiated action following a detailed digital verification of beneficiary data.
In a high-level meeting held at the State Secretariat, officials presented the findings of an extensive e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer) verification of social security pension beneficiaries using a specially developed mobile application. When the beneficiary data was cross-checked, it was revealed that a total of 42,867 pensioners were either deceased (37,335) or ineligible (5,532) for the schemes, underscoring serious lapses in monitoring and record updates.
Dr. Abhishek Jain, Secretary of Finance, Planning, Economics and Statistics, expressed his strong displeasure at the discovery of such massive discrepancies. He instructed that strict action be taken against officers and employees responsible for allowing pensions to continue in the names of individuals who are no longer alive or do not qualify for benefits.
Officials at the meeting highlighted that since 2016, the Civil Registration System (CRS) portal has recorded 452,779 deaths, of which 135,473 records were linked with Aadhaar numbers. Using these Aadhaar-linked records, the government matched data with the pension database to identify irregular entries. This effort has brought to light long-standing failures in routine verification processes.
The Finance Secretary directed that all Aadhaar-linked death records be immediately matched with the e-KYC pension database and that deceased beneficiaries be promptly removed from the pension schemes. He emphasised that there should be no delay in stopping pension payments to those no longer eligible.
Following the verification, 2,378 beneficiaries have already been removed from the pension rolls. The Rural Development and Health departments have also sought further information to support additional verification and corrective steps.
The revelations point to significant administrative gaps in the implementation and oversight of social security pension schemes in Himachal Pradesh. The government’s renewed focus on digital verification aims to combat misuse of public funds and uphold accountability in welfare programs.
Efforts are now underway to clean up the pension database and strengthen monitoring systems to prevent recurrence of such irregularities, ensuring that benefits reach only those genuinely entitled to them.
