State targets fake pensions
The government will crack down on the more than 100,000 recipients of a disability pension who are receiving the aid illegally, Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis said yesterday, as his ministry takes steps to detect corrupt officials approving pension payments. Kaklamanis said that the Health Ministry will draw up a target list of areas that have an unusually high number of recipients benefiting from the payment, such as Piraeus and the Dodecanese Islands. Inspection teams will be sent to such areas to review the steps taken in approving the pensions, the minister added. According to international data, 10 percent of the general population has some form of disability, while 3 to 5 percent should be entitled to a disability pension. The ministry also announced that it will launch a new system in the first six months of next year that will issue an electronic card to pension recipients, helping them save time in their dealings with the state. The new card system and pension approval criteria have been approved by the World Health Organization.
