Pension row: HC asks AAP govt, MCDs to constitute committee

The Delhi High Court today asked AAP government to constitute a committee for verification of beneficiaries of pension schemes for aged and disabled people.
Justice J R Midha further directed all the three municipal corporations here to constitute a panel of five officers to help the government in carrying out the verification process.
It said that the authorities should start the verification process of at least 500 beneficiaries per day, who were not getting old age pension for the last three years and simultaneously release pension to them.
It has fixed the matter for further hearing on August 1.
The court's direction came on a petition seeking contempt proceedings against the civic bodies here for not giving to Delhi government a list of beneficiaries of pension schemes for aged and disabled people.

The plea has alleged that the government and civic bodies were "wilfully and deliberately disobeying and not complying with the court's order" passed on January 20.

While disposing of the plea, a division bench of the high court on January 20 had directed all the three MCDs to furnish list of the aged beneficiaries of pension under MCD schemes to Delhi government within four weeks.
It had also directed the government to process the payment cases after receiving the lists and other particulars from the MCDs.
Advocate Ashok Aggarwal, appearing for NGO Social Jurist, submitted the authorities have failed to do so resulting in continuous non-payment of stipend/pension amount of Rs 1000 per month to over two lakh destitute for the last three years.

Delhi government's additional standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi has submitted that they are very serious about disbursing pension to the beneficiaries but the civic bodies have not furnished them the requisite information, which is causing delay in payment of pension.