The state government last week decided to disburse funds under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY), which is meant for vulnerable people such as the elderly, widows, leprosy patients and disabled by cash on the ground that many were unable to visit bank branches to withdraw their benefits.
“The decision, unfortunately, appears to be a step backwards in our collective pursuit of corruption free governance and efficient public service delivery,” Dharmendra wrote to Naveen.
Total 28.37 lakh MBPY beneficiaries in the state get monthly pension of Rs 500 (for those below 80 years) to 700 (80 years and above).
Pointing out that 2.99 crore people were getting DBT under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), including 20.95 lakh in Odisha, the Union minister highlighted that adoption of DBT had eliminated fake and ghost beneficiaries and plucked leakage. “It promotes transparency by cutting down discretionary decision making and opacity in processes,” he wrote.
“Keeping in mind our commitment to maintain transparency and rooting out corruption, I urge you to continue the DBT mechanism for payment of pension to old age, widows and divyangs in Odisha and review the decision of cash payout,” Dharmendra wrote.
The Union minister said Odisha has swiftly adopted DBT both in central and state schemes. Odisha’s DBT in 2022-23 was Rs 8235.18 crore which covered 1.95 crore beneficiaries. Due to DBT, Odisha has saved Rs 459.96 crore in 2021-22 by eliminating fake beneficiaries while the Centre saved 2.73 lakh crore cumulative till 2021-22 end, he wrote.
While the figures illustrate the effectiveness of DBT strategy, state’s decision to return to cash payment for old age pension is disappointing, he wrote.
Bhaskar Sharma, secretary of Odisha’s department of social security and empowerment of persons with disability, on Saturday wrote to all the district collectors regarding government decision to pay MBPY pension in cash from June. He cited difficulties in withdrawing money from bank accounts.