Taking exception to the Rajasthan government's latest decision to stop payment of social security pensions to the holders of Jan Dhan accounts who have deposited ₹50,000 or more after demonetisation, the Opposition Congress has announced the launch of a pension protection campaign from the New Year's Day.
Even as the Congress has described it as a breach of promise, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has defended its December 26 decision contending that a balance of ₹50,000 or more in a Jan Dhan account would give rise to “legitimate doubts” about the account holder's eligibility for social security pension.
Jaipur District Congress president Pratap Singh Khachariawas said here on Saturday that the State government had already stopped pensions of a large number of beneficiaries which were started by the previous Congress regime.
Mr. Khachariwas said the Social Justice and Empowerment Department's order to stop pensions after fixing a cap on the balance in accounts was illegal, as it could be done only after passing a resolution in a Cabinet meeting and taking the State Assembly into confidence. The decision would put the lives of about 60 lakh people in the State at stake, he added.
The beneficiaries of pension and Jan Dhan account holders include elderly people, widows, deserted women and disabled persons. “How has the government reached the conclusion that the ₹50,000 deposited by them can only be black money and not their life-long savings or income of their entire family,” he asked.
Mr. Khachariawas said the Congress would identify the affected people in Jaipur. The party would then hold a demonstration outside Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s residence if the decision was not revoked. The matter will be raised in a meeting of Congress district unit presidents here on January 5.
Meanwhile, former Minister and BJP MLA from Chhabra, Pratap Singh Singhvi, has also requested Ms. Raje to reconsider the decision.
