Over 60,000 beneficiaries have been found ineligible under the Delhi Governments Womens Pension Scheme following a large-scale verification exercise conducted by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department. According to official, this scheme provides a monthly financial assistance of `2,500 to widowed, divorced, separated and destitute women. However, a door-to-door verification drive launched in November last year uncovered widespread discrepancies. As a result, the names of over 60,000 ineligible recipients have now been removed from the beneficiary list, an official said. The verification revealed several instances where women no longer met the eligibility criteria but continued to receive the pension. These included remarried women claiming to be divorced, employed women drawing assistance despite a steady income and others who no longer resided at their registered addresses, he said. The official said that a number of beneficiaries were found to be ineligible under the existing norms of the scheme. The verification drive has been completed in all districts and necessary corrections have been made to the database, he said, adding this exercise has enabled us to ensure that the pension is provided only to those who genuinely qualify for it. The official said the verification process, conducted by the Anganwadi workers, covered nearly 4.25 lakh beneficiaries. Pension payments have been discontinued for those found ineligible and resumed for verified beneficiaries. At present, around 3.65 lakh women are receiving regular pension under the scheme, he added. The official further said that the initiative was not intended to withdraw support from genuine applicants but to eliminate fraudulent claims and strengthen accountability. Correcting the beneficiary list is essential to uphold the integrity of the welfare system, it also helps avoid diversion of funds and ensures that deserving women are not deprived of timely assistance, he added. This scheme was introduced in 2007-08 to provide a regular source of income to economically weak widows. It supported 6,288 women with `600 per month in the first year. Over time, the benefit amount was increased and eligibility was expanded. Currently, eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old, residents of Delhi for five or more years and belong to families with an annual income not exceeding `1 lakh. The Delhi Government spends nearly `1,140 crore annually on the scheme on 3.65 lakh beneficiaries.

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