'Crippled' System: Over 1,300 Beneficiaries Awaiting Pension Since Dec
 
By Prakash Samaga
Pic: Savitha B R
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore
 
Mangalore, May 17: Gopal Achar, a resident of Beedubali near Panjimuger, Kulur has been travelling all the way from his place (he can travel only by rickshaw, not bus) now and again to the deputy commissioner’s office to enquire about his physically handicapped pension which he has not been getting since November 2010.

Purushotham, a relative of Yashodhara, a physically challenged person and a resident of Sootarpete, has also been heading towards the district treasurer’s office frequently for the same reason. A woman from Attavar shared her pain and said that her 35-year-old sister Saritha’s pension is due since October. She has been visiting the DC’s office to know about the status of payment regularly, but to no avail.

Likewise, as many as1,342 differently-abled persons in the district have been eagerly awaiting their monthly pension of Rs 1,000 since December. Among them more than a thousand or so come under the category of over 75% handicapped condition.
 
It is not only the differently-abled, but even the beneficiaries of Sandhya Suraksha, old age pension, widow pension and other government benefits have not received their monthly pension since November 2010. A new scheme came into existence in the month of December under which the amount had to be sent through ‘electronic money order’. The beneficiaries had to register their pin codes at the post office. But due to the lack of co-ordination between the district treasury and the postal department, the beneficiaries have had to suffer and bear the brunt of an inefficient system.
 
When asked about these irregularities, Alakananda Nadig, district treasury officer, initially said she was not supposed to speak to presspersons and also threatened to sue this reporter. But she relented when we demanded to speak to a higher authority, and said that the entire mess was due to a technical snag.
"After the manual way of payment through money order was changed to ‘electronic money order’ the postal officers were supposed to send us a list of pin codes that match with the addresses of the beneficiaries. But that process is taking too much time. By June first week all the pensions will be cleared," she said.
 
In her response, Surekha, assistant to postal officer in Balmatta post office said they have been getting the list of beneficiaries but with wrong addresses. Under this EMO system, mentioning pin code is mandatory, and finding the right pin code of the addresses is proving to be a tough task. The treasury department had sent us a list of 1,298 persons earlier. But when the second list with an addition of 144 entries was sent by them, they did not give the list of new beneficiaries separately, which has added to the problem as now the new beneficiaries need to be identified. The list will be forwarded as soon as possible so as to make the payments by June, she said.
 
Whatever be the reason, or excuse, for the inefficiency of the system and the people involved, the end sufferers are the helpless beneficiaries who are already going through enough pain in their day-to-day life and ought to be spared this unnecessary suffering.