Release list of officials involved in welfare pension scam: Surendran

Number of illicit beneficiaries of welfare pensions given out by the government not credible, says the BJP State president

K. Surendran, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president, has demanded that the government release the list of officials who illicitly usurped the welfare pensions meant for the poor.

He said the incident was so shameful that Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal had better resign from his position. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to the people for allowing such a discreditable incident happen under his watch.

In a statement here, he said it was explicit that those involved in this swindle were officials close to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], which was why the government was not interested in putting out the list.

Mr. Surendran said it was downright inhuman that government officials who took home huge salaries were swindling the poor of their welfare pensions. He alleged that the Left government, which has denied the rightful pension of many, had no qualms about letting officials enter the list of welfare pension beneficiaries.

He added that the number of illicit beneficiaries of welfare pensions given out by the government was not credible at all. Mr. Surendran asked the Health Minister to respond to the report that most of the officials involved in the swindling are from her department.

Published - November 28, 2024 09:12 pm IST