March 09, 2007

Dead Pensioners - A Contrast

Lucknow pension authorities have delivered an impressive performance once again. While UK pension authorities can't get their get act together, Lucknow has shown tremendous foresight!

Last year, UK paid out more than £57million in benefits to people already dead (see details here). Now contrast that with Lucknow. A pensioner, Sukhdeyi, who landed up to collect her pension found herself officially declared dead! (Dainik Jagran's news-item, in Hindi).

If that isn't foresight and proactive reduction of benefit fraud, what is?

Moreover, it also makes me think how would poor Sukhdeyi prove herself to be alive? How can an officially dead person even submit an application to rescind her dead status? Would she be in a predicament similar to that of Yossarian in 'Catch-22'?

Truly, the world is all Maya, an illusion; and we all are figments of someone's imagination.

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