Karnataka raises income limit for social security pensions to Rs 1.20 lakh

The Karnataka Revenue Department has ordered the continuation of social security pensions for eligible beneficiaries whose annual income, following verification, is above Rs 32,000 and up to Rs 1.20 lakh, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday.

The decision will benefit eligible beneficiaries covered under various social security pension schemes, including old-age, widow and disability pensions.

Parameshwara said the annual income ceiling for these pension schemes had remained at Rs 32,000 for a long time, resulting in lakhs of people being excluded from the benefits.

“By increasing the annual income limit to Rs 1.20 lakh, we have resolved a long-pending issue of the people,” he said.

According to the Revenue Department, integration of the State’s Family Database with pension beneficiary data identified over 23.14 lakh beneficiaries as doubtful cases.

The department subsequently developed the ‘Samyojane’ mobile application to facilitate physical verification of these beneficiaries.

During the verification process, pensions of over 18.06 lakh beneficiaries were temporarily suspended as they had failed to produce required documents, were not residing at the addresses provided or had not submitted income verification certificates.

Following verification by Village Administrative Officers through the Samyojane app, the concerned Tahsildars were directed to conduct further verification as per rules and extend pension benefits to eligible beneficiaries.

However, physical verification of the 23,14,544 doubtful cases showed that some beneficiaries had annual incomes exceeding the existing Rs 32,000 ceiling.

Parameshwara had directed officials to continue pensions for eligible beneficiaries among these cases whose annual income was above Rs 32,000 but did not exceed Rs 1.20 lakh.

Accordingly, the Revenue Department has now issued an order directing continuation of pensions to eligible beneficiaries among the 23,14,544 cases, subject to verification and fulfilment of other prescribed conditions.