Complaints pour in on old-age pension

Complaints pour in on old-age pension
18 Sep, 2010 0357hrs IST TNN[ Julie Mariappan ]

CHENNAI: Every morning for over a week recently, 80-year-old Panjatsaram Ammal had visited the Mambalam-Guindy taluk office on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai.

The resident of Nehru Nagar in Guindy, who had been getting the old-age pension of the state government every month since 1976, hadn't got the sum of Rs 400 for August. "Till a week ago, the postman kept telling me my pension had not been disbursed. The taluk officials say they disbursed the sum. Who is correct? Will I get the money?" she wondered.

She wasn't the only one. P Chandra of K K Nagar, Banu of Saidapet, K Jaya Ammal of T Nagar, Karuppannan and Ulagammal of Kannamapet had similar tales of woe. All claimed they had been getting the money reguraly and had proof.

Said P Chandra : "The taluk officials confirmed the disbursement but I haven't got it. I even shell out Rs 20 to the postman," she said. With two grand-daughters to care for, Chandra, a cobbler, struggles to make ends meet.

Social activists say a few corrupt postal staff are to blame. "This kind of exploitation happens in all taluk offices. The pensioners are forced to give Rs 20 to the postman concerned," said V Gopalakrishnan of Fact India.

Chennai collector V Shobana pleaded ignorance of the issue. "This is the first time, I'm getting to know of such a thing. The postal department staff will be enquired," she told TOI. The revenue department pays pensions to 2.43 lakh people in Chennai under various heads.

Chennai Post Master General M S Ramanujan told TOI that many of the beneficiaries were not genuine. "We asked the revenue secretary to check the mechanism of identifying the genuineness of beneficiaries. At least 3% of the amount is transferred back to the exchequer every month due to the address being incorrect or the beneficary having died. Genuine beneficiaries will be paid," he said.

Eight postmen were suspended in the city recently on charges of extracting money from pensioners and making payment for the deceased, he added.