The Rajasthan government has filed a case in the 'Take Pension, Give Vote' scandal. A sensational fraud was uncovered by AajTak in Nagaur district, where people were posing as 60-year-olds at the age of 40 to claim pensions. Thousands of fake pensioners are drawing funds from the local panchayats, while genuine beneficiaries continue to struggle for six months through the government offices. In Nagaur district alone, 674 unauthorized individuals in 15 panchayats have collected approximately 45 million Rupees over five years under the elderly pension scheme.
Officials along with employees have brought the pension scheme to a standstill. Seniors over 60 with an annual income of less than 48,000 Rupees or under two and a half acres of land receive 1,150 Rupees monthly. Yet, a massive scam has spread through Rajasthan's villages, where 40-year-olds pose as 60-year-olds to claim pensions. When AajTak reached these fraudsters' homes, they quickly called each other and fled the scene. Those caught declared they saw no harm in accepting, because it was given. Villagers allege that politicians and officials collaborated to perpetuate this deceit.
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A case was filed against Reventaram from Balaya village by his village development officer. Accused of manipulating records in collaboration with authorities on the e-Mitra portal, he changed his age to 60 to fraudulently benefit from the pension. AajTak revealed his birth date on his Aadhaar as September 10, 1975, but he altered it to November 24, 1953, for the pension on his Jan Aadhar card, even swapping his photo for a magazine cover image. His old age pension was fraudulently initiated at 38 for electoral gains before elections in 2013.
This improper benefit was canceled in 2016 but resumed before the 2018 elections. Reventaram's pension was continued with fraudulent assistance from e-Mitra operator Rameshwar Lal, allegedly holding a cut in the pension. Ramkishore from Balaya village has been ordered to return the entire pension amount he wrongfully received. Born January 1, 1980, he altered his Jan Aadhar to January 1, 1962, to access the benefits. Corruption runs so smoothly that Ramkishore's pension was activated on August 13, 2021, yet funds were credited two days earlier, on August 11.
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Ramkishore stayed home, but when AajTak's team visited twice, his uncle grew furious, claiming, 'We didn’t demand it, but if given, who minds taking it? We’re not alone; the entire village is involved.' Similarly, Hariram Kala and wife Shivari have been drawing pensions since 2012, even though their ages were 42 and 45, respectively, at the start. Hariram stated that since the entire village was participating, his brother enlisted his and his wife's names too. Astonishingly, their application lacked signatures, yet they received benefits for 12 years. Upon exposure, the government has ordered a recovery of two lakhs each from the couple.
Nagaur's Collector Arun Kumar Purohit has mandated an investigation into all district panchayats’ social welfare pension beneficiaries. Recovery notices have been issued for those named in AajTak’s report. Under the Old Age Pension Scheme in Rajasthan, 5,185,320 individuals are registered through the state government's e-Mitra portal, although over 700,000 have not completed their KYC yet continue receiving pensions.
