Mizoram government seeks church support to raise awareness on amnesty scheme for fraudulent family pensions

The Mizoram government has sought the cooperation of churches to create awareness about its amnesty scheme for beneficiaries drawing family pensions on the basis of fraudulent or invalid documents, urging ineligible recipients to voluntarily surrender their Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) by September 30, officials said on Sunday, September 13.

In a letter sent to the heads of various churches last week, the state government appealed to them to circulate the Finance Department's June 16 Office Memorandum on the voluntary surrender of fraudulent family pension claims among their congregations.

The government also urged churches to read out the memorandum during congregational gatherings to ensure that beneficiaries are made aware of the amnesty initiative and the deadline for surrendering their PPOs.

According to officials, the initiative is aimed at encouraging ineligible beneficiaries to voluntarily give up pensions being drawn on the basis of invalid or fraudulent documents, thereby helping the government identify and address such cases.

The government said wider dissemination of the scheme through churches would help ensure that as many beneficiaries as possible become aware of the opportunity to voluntarily surrender their pensions within the stipulated deadline.