Voter ID age tweaks spark pension scam fears in Odisha

Alarm bells are ringing in Odisha after officials detected a surge in applicants producing newly corrected voter ID cards to claim higher social security pensions meant for the elderly.

The Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) said several pension seekers have recently presented voter IDs showing altered dates of birth, raising suspicions of manipulation to cross the 80-year eligibility threshold.

SSEPD Secretary R S Gopalan — who also serves as the state’s Chief Electoral Officer — has directed district collectors to demand applicants’ previous voter IDs for cross-verification. “We found in many cases that the date of birth had been changed only recently. Authorities must now match these details with older cards to block ineligible claims,” Gopalan said.

Currently, nearly 56 lakh people above 60 receive social security pensions in Odisha, either under the Centre’s National Social Assistance Programme or the state’s Madhu Babu Pension Yojana. While those above 60 get ₹1,000 per month, and those above 80 were earlier entitled to ₹1,200, the BJP government — after ousting the BJD — hiked pensions to ₹3,500 for people above 80 years of age and for those with 80% disability.

That lucrative increase, however, benefits only around 3 lakh of the total 56 lakh pensioners, prompting what officials suspect is a wave of falsification.

SSEPD Minister Nityananda Gond warned that action would be taken against anyone caught manipulating voter IDs to siphon public funds. Odisha spends over ₹7,500 crore annually on pensions.