Kanpur, Sep 27 (IANS): Nearly 24 married women have been found to be taking advantage of widow pension in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur.

Nearly 5,000 more beneficiaries of the Destitute Women Scheme in the district are untraceable.

The facts came to light during a recent verification drive by the district probation department for the financial year 2023.

"As many as24women, who had remarried after the death of their first husband, were still receiving widow pension. We have put their pension on hold and are in the process of making a recovery. Notices for the same will be issued soon," said district probation officer Jaideep.

During the drive, it was found that these24women were not present at their given destination and had shifted to another place after remarrying, but were receiving the widow pension.

Sources said the women were not aware that an application had to be moved to stop disbursal of pension.

At present 58,000 women in the district are benefitting from the scheme.