More than 60,000 women enrolled under the Delhi government’s Women’s Pension Scheme have been found ineligible following a large-scale verification exercise conducted by the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), news agency PTI reported, citing officials.

The verification drive, launched in November last year, uncovered widespread discrepancies among beneficiaries, prompting authorities to remove ineligible recipients from the pension rolls.

The scheme provides monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to widowed, divorced, separated, and destitute women.

An official cited by PTI said the verification revealed numerous cases where beneficiaries no longer met the eligibility criteria but continued to draw the pension.

“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,” the official said.

The verification was conducted door-to-door by Anganwadi workers and covered approximately 4.25 lakh beneficiaries across the capital.

Officials confirmed that the exercise has now been completed in all districts, with the beneficiary database duly updated. Pension payments have been suspended for those found ineligible and resumed for verified recipients. Currently, about 3.65 lakh women are receiving the pension regularly.

Introduced in 2007-08, the Women’s Pension Scheme was initially aimed at supporting economically disadvantaged widows, but over time, its scope was expanded to include other vulnerable groups of women. The monthly assistance amount has also been revised upwards to better support beneficiaries.

Officials noted that such verification efforts are essential to ensure that government welfare schemes reach the intended recipients and are not misused.