Rajasthan's 'living dead': Digital exclusion hurts pensioners in BJP state

Several pensioners from Rajasthan head to Delhi for an event on Tuesday which highlighted the 'digital exclusion' faced by such individuals, based on cases in the BJP-governed state that was collated by various organisations, The Times of India reported.

A 69-year-old woman made the 565 km journey hoping to settle the dispute of whether she was dead or alive. Almost two years back, the government records were inexplicably changed, showing her as 'deceased' and cutting off the old-age pension benefit she would have gotten. A meagre income from rearing goats lets her make ends meet now.

Before the trip to Delhi, she met with Rajasthan government officials and pleaded with them, even producing papers as proof of her being alive, but to no avail, the publication reported.

Another 40-year-old complained of not getting the widow pension for 30 months. Officials suggested she could open a new pension account, but in that case she would forfeit her arrears.

A 22-year-old found her disability pension stopped suddenly from January 2023 without any prior notice. Apparently her address was changed to 'out of state' in the records, though she continued living in Rajasthan. To make matters worse, repeated attempts at Aadhaar verification to reinstate her name in the pension records failed due to her disability.

The fingerprints and pupils could not be registered and her Aadhaar was deactivated mid 2024, the publication reported.

Yet another individual stopped getting pension after an e-Mitra operator made a mistake of linking her Pension Payment Order to another woman's account. When she died in March this year, she was still waiting for the mistake to be rectified.

The Delhi event, where such cases were recounted, was organised by Pension Parishad and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKKS).

As per the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Act, 2023, all elderly, disabled or widowed women can get a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 a month, with an annual increment of 15 per cent.

Speaking to TOI, Nikhil Dey of MKSS and Pension Parishad rued the Aadhaar being made compulsory despite the government having said otherwise, initially. As per Dey, this has led to 'systemic failures' that 'alienate' those who need support the most.

"In Rajasthan, over 1 crore pension beneficiaries face challenges, with around 13 lakh pensions being cancelled annually, often due to delays or data mismatches," TOI reported him say.