Patna: Life verification of over 1 crore of state’s 1.16 crore social security pension beneficiaries has been completed, while over 13.57 lakh are yet to complete the mandatory exercise ahead of the Nov 30 deadline, the social welfare department said in a press statement issued on Wednesday. The exercise is aimed at maintaining transparency in the pension distribution system.“The state govt is committed to providing financial support to senior citizens, widowed women and persons with disabilities through social security pensions,” social welfare department minister Shweta Gupta said in the statement. She said completing the life verification process would help the department verify beneficiaries’ records and maintain transparency in the pension distribution.The annual life verification process has to be completed by beneficiaries by Nov 30 each year, failing which their pension payments would be suspended, the department said in the press release on Wednesday.According to the department, a life certificate is an official document that confirms that a pensioner is alive. The remaining beneficiaries should complete their verification at the earliest so that the records of all eligible pensioners can be verified within the stipulated time.Madhubani district topped in life verification, covering over 5 lakh pensioners, followed by Patna with around 5 lakh and East Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur with over 4 lakh each. In terms of the total number of beneficiaries, Patna ranked first with over 6 lakh, while Madhubani, East Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Gaya had over 5 lakh each.
