Delhi launches door-to-door biometric audit of 4.4 lakh old-age pensioners

Delhi’s Social Welfare Department has begun a comprehensive biometric verification of its old-age pension beneficiaries, targeting the 4.4 lakh seniors enrolled in the scheme. After a pause caused by the denial of third-party Aadhaar authentication, a contracted firm received permission to perform door-to-door checks using fingerprint and iris scanners, as well as live photographs. The verification is slated to finish within three months, with officials projecting a 20-25% reduction in the beneficiary list by removing deceased, duplicate or otherwise ineligible individuals.

Pension amounts remain Rs 2,000 monthly for those aged 60-69 and Rs 2,500 for those 70 and above. The department signed an MoU with the Common Service Centre network, which operates around 6,000 centres across the city, to support the on-site data collection and electronic record updates.