Imphal, July 13: Following complaint of fraudulent withdrawal of a huge amount of pension in the name of pensioners who are no more alive and with the help of fake passbooks even while the Government has taken up steps to computerise the system of pension payment to weed out fake cases, Vigilance has taken up a case and started investigating into the matter.

Disclosing this to The Sangai Express, a reliable source informed that acting on the complaint of fraudulent withdrawal of a huge amount of pension in the name of pensioners who are no more alive and with the help of fake passbook allegedly by some staff of Treasury Office in connivances with some other non-Government employees, Vigilance has started investigating into the matter after registering a case.

Although the exact date and the amount of the pension withdrawn could not be ascertained as of now, the Vigilance is currently investigating the matter with all seriousness, the source said.

Necessary action would be taken up against any officials if they were found involved in the case, the source assured while informing that the Finance Department has already started taking up steps in this regard.

On the other hand, after the pilot project taken up by the Treasury and Accounts Department for computerisation of the system of payment of pension to the pensioners of Imphal Treasury Office along with taking the photographs of the pensioners and disbursement of the pension through the bank, similar arrangements have been taken up for other Treasury offices.

Under this new system, pensioners have to come to their respective Treasury offices to be photographed after every six months to prove that they are still alive.

However, in case of physical infirmity, the Treasury Office/ Sub-Treasury Office concerned would go to the residence of the pensioners for the said purpose.

A joint meeting of the bank authorities, NIC, Treasuries and Representatives of Pensioners' Union chaired by Finance Commissioner RR Rashmi on June 1 had decided to pay the pension in cash with effect from July 1. To ensure smooth disbursement of the pension amount to the pensioners, the meeting also decided to nominate a designated branch of the bank as the nodal branch and functioning along with the auxiliary branches as linked branches.

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