Friday, December 9 2005 14:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Smelling a whiff of scam in Government's huge spending towards payment to pensioners without maintaining the records of the beneficiaries during the erstwhile Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) regime, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today (Dec 9, 2005) ordered a high-level probe and update of the records to take legal action against 'ghost pensioners', if any.

Talking to sources, Modi said he was taken by surprise to know from the officials of the Finance Department that there were no records about the exact number of beneficiaries who have been drawing the pensions for which the state has to pay a whopping Rs 2,268 crore per annum.

"I have also been told that pensions are being disbursed without proper physical verification of the beneficiaries. Under the rules, the physical verifications are to be carried out twice a year," he said.

"I firmly believe there are many ghost pensioners among the beneficiaries," Modi said.

Besides ordering a high-level probe, Modi said he had asked the officials of the Finance Department to collect the records of all pensioners from the office of Accountant General (AG) and update the records of actual beneficiaries.

"There is a complete mess here but we will ensure that all the records are maintained and the formalities of pension for employees due to retire in coming days are completed on time," Modi, who also holds the Finance portfolio said.

Modi said there was heavy burden on the state exchequer on account of payment of pension, which had increased from Rs 195 crore during 1990-91 to Rs 2,268 crore in 2003-04.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the state would have to spend less on pensioners in the future as the contributory pension scheme had been implemented from September 1, 2005.

"New employees will contribute 10 per cent of their salary and dearness allowance towards pensions and the Government will contribute another 10 per cent," he said.

Modi said the contributory pensions amount of employees would be handled by the pension regulatory authority and we will ensure that the fund is utilised properly in equities and other investments.