Kerala: Six govt employees suspended in welfare pension fraud, ordered to repay amount with 18% interest
By Deepu Mohan | First Published Dec 19, 2024, 10:47 AM ISTSix Kerala government employees suspended for welfare pension fraud, with 1,458 ineligible employees, including professors and teachers, found to be receiving pensions, prompting recovery efforts.
Thiruvananthapuram: Six government employees from the Soil Conservation Department in Kerala have been suspended in connection with a welfare pension fraud. The employees, ranging from part-time sweepers to work officers, are accused of illegally obtaining social security pensions. They have been ordered to repay the amount with 18% interest.
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The fraud was uncovered during an inspection conducted by the Information Kerala Mission, as instructed by the Finance Department. It was revealed that 1,458 government employees, including gazetted officers, were receiving welfare pensions, despite being ineligible. Among those identified were college assistant professors, higher secondary teachers, and other public sector employees. The Finance Department has mandated the recovery of the illegally received pension amounts, with interest.
Notably, two assistant professors, one working in Thiruvananthapuram and the other in Palakkad, were found to be among the recipients. Additionally, three higher secondary teachers were also receiving pensions. The Health Department had the largest number of ineligible pensioners, with 373 employees involved, followed by the General Education Department with 224 pensioners. Other departments with significant numbers of employees receiving pensions included Medical Education (124), Ayurveda (114), Animal Husbandry (74), Public Works (47), Technical Education (46), and Homeopathy (41). Other sectors with affected employees include Agriculture (35), Revenue (35), Judiciary (34), Social Justice (34), Insurance Medical Services has 31 and Collegiate Education has 27.
Other departments and institutions with pension recipients included sales tax (14), Scheduled Caste Welfare (13), rural development, police, PSC, and Ayurvedic Medical Education (10 each), Cooperation (8), Legislature Secretariat, Vocational Training, Public Administration, and Vocational Higher Secondary (7 each), Forest and Wildlife (9), Soil Survey and Fisheries (6 each), Local Self-Government, Motor Vehicles, Industry and Commerce, Fire Force, Dairy Development, Public Distribution, and Advocate General's Office (4 each), Social Welfare, Registration, Museum, Printing, Food Safety, Excise, and Archaeology (3 each), Labor, Legal Metrology, Medical Examination Laboratory, Economics and Statistics, and Law Colleges (2 each), NCC, Lotteries, Jail, Labor Court, Harbor Engineering, Electrical Inspectorate, Drugs Control, Vinnoka Section Development, and Coir Development (1 each).
In response to the discovery, the Finance Department has vowed to continue conducting inspections at various levels to identify and remove ineligible individuals.
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