Rs 2,679 crore spent on life, family pensions in 2025-26; MLA points to delayed death reporting, unverified remarriage and possible duplicate drawals
The Nagaland Legislative Assembly on Tuesday flagged possible irregularities in the disbursement of government pensions, with MLA Dr. Tseilhoutuo Rhutso calling for a comprehensive verification and audit of the state’s pension system amid an annual pension expenditure of more than Rs 2,600 crore.
Raising the matter under Rule 49 during Zero Hour on the first day of the ninth session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Rhutso said irregularities in pension disbursement could result in the fraudulent drawal of public funds and urged the government to undertake a time-bound verification of pensioners across the state.
According to figures placed before the House, 63,370 retired government employees and nominees are currently drawing pensions through two channels—the State Treasury and the SBI-run Computerised Pension Processing Centre (CPPC).
Of these, 31,714 pensioners are covered under the CPPC, while 31,656 are paid through the State Treasury, including 20,406 life pensioners and 11,250 family pensioners.
The pension bill has also continued to rise.
The government spent Rs 2,429.56 crore on life and family pensions in 2023-24, which increased to Rs 2,633.24 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 2,679.12 crore in 2025-26. A further Rs 1,049.63 crore had already been spent during the first four months of the current financial year, according to the figures cited in the Assembly.
Rhutso said the size of the pension bill made effective verification particularly important and raised concerns over several vulnerabilities in the existing system.
Among the issues he flagged was the delayed reporting of pensioners’ deaths, which, he said, could allow continued pension drawal for several months. He also pointed to cases where death certificates are submitted late to claim arrears, unverified remarriage of family pensioners and the possibility of duplicate pension payments arising from separate CPPC and Treasury records.
The MLA further raised concerns over the verification of pensioners who have settled outside Nagaland and alleged that fraudulent marriage, death and disability certificates could potentially be used to secure pension benefits.
He also sought clarification on the entitlement of dependent parents of a deceased government employee to an additional family pension where both parents are themselves retired government servants.
Rhutso said even a small percentage of fraudulent pension drawals could place a significant burden on the state exchequer, particularly given Nagaland’s substantial expenditure on salaries and pensions.
He proposed Aadhaar-linked biometric verification of all pensioners through Jeevan Pramaan, along with the creation of a high-level committee under the Finance Department comprising representatives of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Treasuries and the Accountant General to undertake a detailed audit.
Among other measures, he called for a centralised online pension portal, greater coordination with the Accountant Generals of other states to verify Nagaland pensioners residing outside the state, and periodic updating of information relating to dependants and spouses.
He also proposed action against officials and other persons found to have facilitated fraudulent pension claims through manipulated or false certificates.
Rhutso suggested that the government consider setting a deadline for the voluntary reporting of fraudulent pension drawals, after which illegally drawn amounts could be recovered.
He clarified that his submission was not intended to target genuine pensioners or the government, but to identify fraudulent cases, protect the rights of legitimate pensioners and prevent leakage of public funds.
The matter assumes significance as the state continues to carry a large and rising pension commitment, with the latest figures showing more than 63,000 pensioners and nominees dependent on the two existing disbursement systems.
