India, Sept. 5 -- Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has directed all district collectors to carefully verify voter identity cards of applicants seeking social security pensions, following reports of manipulation in age details.
As per a letter issued by R. S. Gopalan, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD), it was observed that many new applicants are producing recently issued voter ID cards with altered dates of birth to claim higher pensions.
The directive comes after the state government increased social security pensions for persons with 80% disability and those aged 80 years and above to 3,500 per month. Similarly, the minimum pension under both the ...