Bhubaneswar: More than 81,000 social security pension beneficiaries in Odisha are yet to be migrated to the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), prompting the state government to direct all district collectors and district magistrates to expedite Aadhaar seeding and bank account linkage to ensure uninterrupted pension disbursal.
In a communication issued on Monday, the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department said 81,226 beneficiaries under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) are still receiving pensions through the existing Account-Based Payment (ABP) system. The department has shared a district-wise list of the pending beneficiaries with the respective district administrations and asked them to complete the migration process at the earliest.
Additional Secretary Deepak Routray instructed collectors to identify the remaining beneficiaries and ensure that their Aadhaar numbers are seeded with their respective bank accounts so that they can be shifted to the Aadhaar-Based Payment System without further delay.
The fresh directive comes barely a week after the department, on June 29, asked all district administrations to fast-track Aadhaar linkage and e-KYC verification for around 3.3 lakh beneficiaries covered under the National Social Assistance Programme. Despite the exercise, over 81,000 beneficiaries are yet to complete the transition to the Aadhaar-enabled payment system.
According to the department, Aadhaar seeding and e-KYC verification should be taken up on priority by Aadhaar operators at the block level before bank account linkage is finalised. Aadhaar Coordinators, who supervise multiple blocks, have also been asked to extend support through their supervisor IDs in case of technical or operational issues.
The government said timely completion of Aadhaar seeding and e-KYC is crucial to ensure seamless pension disbursal under the National Social Assistance Programme and to avoid any disruption in payments to eligible beneficiaries.
District administrations have been asked to closely monitor the progress and complete the pending work at the earliest.
