P
ublic Servants serve the country for several decades and then retire. A pension paid to them recognizing their service rendered to the country. But what if someone obtains his/her mother’s/father’s or both parents’ pension(s) illegally? It is not acceptable at all.
Last week, the media reported that over 6,400 Sri Lankans obtain illegal pensions of other individuals. The information was revealed during a recent COPE meeting. Another revelation was that an individual had obtained nearly 2.7 million as pension payments from 2013 to 2016 and it was the two pensions of that specific individual’s dead parents. Most of the additional pensions had been paid to various individuals connected to the Armed Forces.
Sri Lankan public servants receive pensions for the service they rendered to the country. They serve for low salaries when compared with other countries in the world and then retire after serving for three or more decades. Then they face the biggest challenge of their life because their pensions are not paid to them in the very next month after they retire. They become jobless and have no income at all.
About three or four decades ago it took more than three or four years to pay the pension for the public servants who retired and sometimes they did not live to receive their first pension. But this situation gradually changed and this `dark waiting period’ without any income was reduced to three or two years and then one or two years. At the moment usually it takes a few months. Even now some public servants need to wait for several months to get their first pension and sometimes they get it within a few months. Some public servants who handle this service delay some pensions purposely due to jealousy etc.
Many Sri Lankans are cunning and it is their nature. Once the mother/father or both parents pass away, the children continue to obtain their pensions. This happens due to the lack of general knowledge and ignorance of public servants who handle various parts of the pension. First, it is the Department of Pensions. Then comes the Divisional Secretariat of the specific area where the pensioner has lived. The Grama Niladhari of the specific Grama Niladhari Division where the pensioner lived is also responsible and it is his/her duty to certify whether the relevant pensioner is still alive or dead.
Otherwise, the children of the dead pensioners will continue to obtain pensions without any problem and it happens when the pension directly goes to the bank account of the pensioner. The children can very easily withdraw the pension from the ATM of the relevant bank even without the knowledge of a living and permanently disabled or mentally sick pensioner. This is the ground reality of Sri Lanka. It is a little bit difficult when the pensioners go to the Post Office, sign and obtain the pension. Even then the children can get the dead parents’ pensions without any trouble because they are extremely familiar with the Sub Post Office of their village and usually they get the signature of their parents, go to the post office and get the pension because the staffers of the sub-post office are familiar with the villagers.
What is required is a proper monitoring system and tracking system. This can be very easily established through Grama Niladharis. At the moment they only check whether the relevant pensioner is living or dead only when they need to certify the free railway Warrants issued to all pensioners annually. Not all pensioners use those free warrants because most of the pensioners are old, sick and unable to travel by train. Only a few pensioners use one or two sets of warrants.
At the moment the children are eligible to receive their parents’ pensions only if they are permanently disabled, mentally retarded etc and it should be certified by a Medical Board. Otherwise male children receive the pension until they turn 18 and female children receive the pension until they turn 21 or get married. The pension ceases if female children get married before the age of 21. If not they receive it until they turn 21. It is the same with Widow’s & Orphan’s Pension (W&OP). These are the current rules and regulations of paying a pension to Sri Lankan citizens.
Usually Sri Lankan public servants retire at the age of 60 and by that time they have children around the age of 30. Therefore usually children above the age of 30 do not need pensions from their parents because they can easily work and earn a living. Only the children who are permanently disabled, mentally retarded etc need parents’ assistance to live. Therefore it is the sole responsibility of all relevant officials, State Departments, and Public Servants to implement the existing law strictly in order to stop illegal pensions and prevent such pension payments in the future.
The Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) is a Parliamentary Committee established on July 21, 1979, by the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Whatever information revealed by this committee should be treated seriously because it is all about public money collected through taxes.
