A delegation of Food Security Public Forum’s West Singhbhum unit has demanded the clearance of all social security pension applications by the district administration.

The forum is a network of organisations and activists working on food and social security in the district.

On February 16, the forum had organised the state’s maiden public hearing on social security pension at Chaibasa. In a memorandum submitted to West Singhbhum deputy commissioner Arava Rajkamal on Tuesday, the forum said the delay in the sanction of pension was causing problems for a large number of pensioners, most of whom stayed in remote villages.

“We have asked the deputy commissioner to intimate the pensioners after their applications for pension are cleared as most of them stay in remote villages and face problems in reaching the district collectorate. We have also urged the administration that pension of a beneficiary should not be stopped for lack of Aadhar card,” said Ashok Mundri, one of the forum members who was part of the delegation.

At the public hearing, people had complained that they were yet to get pension despite applying for it several times in the last few years.

Most of them did not even a get a receipt of their applications.

According to the government's projected population figures for Jharkhand, the elderly population in the West Singhbhum district in 2021 is at least 1,35,369. But the current pension schemes cover only 65 per cent of them. The story is similar for widows and the disabled.

The forum collated 1,364 cases of pending applications and 648 complaints of denial of pension.

The delegation also recommended a simplified and transparent application process.

“The process of making death certificate and disability certificate should be made simpler without making affidavit mandatory. The disability certificate should be issued at the block level instead of making the disabled to come to the Sadar Hospital in Chaibasa. Camps should be held at the block level to address various problems of applicants for social security pension,” Mundri added.

The other demands included resumption of pension facility for those whose pension had been stopped for some months and payment of arrears for the same period.

The forum also suggested that banks should update the passbook of pensioners regularly.