Delhi Women’s Pension Scheme: 60,000 beneficiaries found ineligible

Over 60,000 beneficiaries have been found ineligible under the Delhi government’s Women’s Pension Scheme following a large-scale verification exercise conducted by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department, officials on Monday (June 30, 2025) said.

This scheme provides a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,500 to widowed, divorced, separated and destitute women.

However, a door-to-door verification drive launched in November last year uncovered widespread discrepancies. As a result, the names of over 60,000 ineligible recipients have now been removed from the beneficiary list, an official said. “The verification revealed several instances where women no longer met the eligibility criteria but continued to receive the pension. These included remarried women claiming to be divorced, employed women drawing assistance despite a steady income and others who no longer resided at their registered addresses,” he said.

“The verification drive has been completed in all districts and necessary corrections have been made to the database,” he said, adding this exercise had enabled the government to ensure that the pension is provided only to those who genuinely qualify for it.

The official said the verification process, conducted by the anganwadi workers, covered nearly 4.25 lakh beneficiaries.

‘Fraudulent claims’

Pension payments have been discontinued for those found ineligible and resumed for verified beneficiaries. At present, around 3.65 lakh women are receiving regular pension under the scheme, he added. The official said the initiative was not intended to withdraw support from genuine applicants but to eliminate fraudulent claims and strengthen accountability.

This scheme was introduced in 2007-08 to provide a regular source of income to economically weak widows. Over time, the benefit amount was increased and eligibility expanded.