Bihar Social Welfare Minister Madan Sahni. Photo Credit: X@DoSWBihar
Giving relief to the beneficiaries of social security pension schemes, Social Welfare Minister Madan Sahni on Wednesday (January 21, 2026) said that camps will be organised at block or panchayat level once a month to give “life certification” to the beneficiaries by carrying out their physical verification.
No one will be deprived of pension schemes even if they face any sort of difficulties in carrying out “life certification” to avail the benefits of the schemes, Mr. Sahni told reporters at Soochna Bhawan.
“Keeping in mind the problems being faced by the beneficiaries in availing pension due to mismatch in their names, or mismatch in Aadhaar, or having problem in giving thumb impression, we have decided to make the process of life certification easier so that they can avail pension benefits,” Mr. Sahni said.
He added, “We have decided to hold camps at block or panchayat level once in a month to ensure that they receive their pension after carrying out their physical verification to get a life certificate. We will ensure that every beneficiary must get his/her pension. No one will be deprived of the benefit.”
Mr. Sahni was accompanied by department’s Secretary Bandana Preyashi, Directorate of Disability Empowerment Director Yogesh Kumar Sagar, Directorate of Social Security Director Dharmendra Kumar, Women and Child Development Corporation’s Dy Secretary-cum-Nodal Officer Margan Sinha and others.
Life certification was necessary since the last time it was conducted was in 2021, Department Secretary Ms. Preyashi said, adding that the certification has been done for those who can reach Common Services Centers (CSC).
The verification process has been completed for around 70 lakh beneficiaries, she said while stating that the department reaches to around 3.5 crore beneficiaries with its welfare schemes.
Social welfare department runs six different schemes under which it gives pensions to 1.16 crore beneficiaries across the State.
The six schemes are- Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS), Mukhyamantri Vridhjan Pension Yojana (MVPY), Laxmibai Social Security Pension Scheme and Bihar Disability Pension Scheme.
Talking about Social Security Pension Scheme, Mr. Sahni asserted that the scheme was in 1995 with monthly pension of ₹200 but it was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who doubled the amount of monthly pension to ₹400 and again the amount was hiked almost three times to ₹1100 per month in July last year.
The number of beneficiaries increased to 12 lakh in a span of 10 years between 1995 and 2005, the minister said and added that the number of beneficiaries increased to 1.16 crores by the end of December 2025.
Currently, six special schools for differently abled children are operational in the state, Mr. Sahni said and added that one residential school in each divisional commissionary will be opened with 500 bed capacity. Out of the nine schools that will be opened in as many divisions, five will be girls and four for boys, he added.
The department also admitted that there has been a decline in sex ratio in Bihar in comparison to national level due to non-registration of girl babies. She asserted that the Bihar government is aware of this and sensitive towards the issue.
Bihar has recorded the lowest sex ratio at birth for 2022 among all States and Union Territories, reporting just 891 girls born for every 1,000 boys, according to the Civil Registration System’s vital statistics report, released in June 2025, by the Office of the Registrar General of India.
Bihar is also the only State that has seen its sex ratio at birth declining consistently since 2020, the year from which the data is available for the State. In 2020, the State reported a sex ratio at birth of 964, which fell to 908 in 2021, before further dipping to 891 in 2022.
Published – January 22, 2026 12:05 am IST
