Facial recognition to be mandatory for pensioners, welfare scheme beneficiaries soon

After failing to deliver the promised Rs 4,000 pension hike, the Congress government is planning to make facial recognition mandatory for pensioners and welfare beneficiaries, citing the need to identify genuine recipients and curb irregularities

Hyderabad: After failing to provide an enhanced monthly pension of Rs 4,000 as promised during Assembly elections, the Congress government is now planning to make facial recognition mandatory for pensioners and other welfare scheme beneficiaries.

While the government claims the idea behind the move is to identify genuine beneficiaries, there are apprehensions that the number of beneficiaries could be cut down considerably. This would help the cash-starved Congress government to get some relief from financial burden, official sources said.

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The move to make facial recognition mandatory was disclosed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during an informal chat with media persons here on Thursday.

There were complaints that many unauthorised persons were securing pensions and benefits under other welfare schemes. By introducing facial recognition system, only genuine beneficiaries would be identified and the State government can extend pensions and benefits accordingly, he claimed.

On a par with pensioners, the government is also planning facial recognition for employees, especially contract and outsourcing staff. The State government had recently directed all the employees including regular staff to submit their Aadhaar details in respective departments to avoid salary suspension.

The Chief Minister said a few employees had submitted fake details. Some outsourcing agencies were registering details of their staff and claiming salaries for many. With a forensic audit, all the salary accounts would be checked and such irregularities would be exposed, he said.