Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: Fake pensioners' scam dominated proceedings at the civic body's monthly council meeting here today with several councillors raising the issue and seeking introduction of a remedial mechanism.

Last month, irregularities in the Madhu Babu Pension Yojna came to the fore when it emerged that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had issued fake pensioner's cards to either ineligible beneficiaries or those who have already died. As money allegedly withdrawn in their names, the state exchequer suffered a loss of over Rs 1 lakh. This angered genuine beneficiaries, many of whom missed out on their pension.

As the scam came to light, the civic body held an inquiry and suspended a senior official for his alleged involvement in the irregularities.

In a bid to overcome this flaw, the civic body has now decided to link all beneficiaries with Aadhaar cards and provide the grants only when the card is showed to the officials. It has also decided to provide Aadhaar cards to the eligible beneficiaries by the end of October.

'We have already taken action against the errant officials who were involved in the pension scheme irregularity. In the latest move, we have decided to link the beneficiaries with Aadhaar cards to authenticate their identity,' said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Jena said at present, 90 per cent of the beneficiaries have Aadhaar cards, while the rest would be covered by the end of October. 'The pensioners will be listed based on their Aadhaar cards. No one will get the grant if he or she fails to show the card,' he said.

From the beginning of the meeting, several councillors raised the issue, leading to the day's proceedings being hampered.

'Several ineligible people got the money because of the fault in the system. The government had to bear huge losses due to this, while many genuine beneficiaries were deprived of the grant,' said a councillor.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has also decided to conduct a special drive for Aadhaar linkage of eligible beneficiaries. 'We will conduct a special drive at several places to identify the legitimate beneficiaries and link it to their Aadhaar. The drive will begin after the festive season,' said a civic body official.

Besides, a special helpdesk will also be set up for the beneficiaries for a month to sort out all the pending issues related to the pension scheme. 'The damage has been done. Lakhs of rupees have disappeared, but it is a good move to take some remedial action now,' said city-based social worker Alok Mohanty.