The Central Information Commission has directed the Social Welfare Department of the Delhi government to ensure that the verification process for pension should be completed within one month period.
"Right to pension is implicit in right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Pension cannot be denied and delayed on any reason except on the death of pensioner or if his/her income is established to be above poverty line," Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said.
The Commission was hearing the complaint of one Chandrawati whose pension was not released for more than a year because of pending verification process.
"Having heard the submission and perusal of records, the Commission observes that it is highly unreasonable on the part of Social Welfare Department to take more than one year for completing verification, stopping the pension during verification process without giving any prior intimation to the pensioner and for not paying pension for a long period," he said.
Using its powers under the RTI Act, Acharyulu directed the department to put in place a system where pension is not stopped beyond one month.
"Verification should be done within that period, an information about pension be given to the pensioner promptly without stopping payment of pension," he said.
