Directing the officials concerned to immediately recommence payment of monthly pension to beneficiaries under social security schemes such as old age and widow pension in the cases where they had been abruptly stopped during the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday instructed the assistant commissioners to hold hobli-level monthly pension adalats for the immediate settlement of the issues related to non-payment of such pensions.
Briefing presspersons after his maiden meeting with the deputy commissioners of districts, chief executive officers of zilla panchayats and heads of the government departments, here, the Chief Minister observed that there was a confusion with respect to payment of social security pension as the erstwhile BJP government had abruptly stopped pension to a large number of people.
He asked the Deputy Commissioners to not only recommence payment of pension to eligible persons, but also provide them the arrears from the day of stopping the monthly payment. To help the aggrieved beneficiaries to get back pension, he directed the assistant commissioners to hold hobli-level pension adalats. He instructed officials to dispose of new applications seeking grant of pensions within a month.
Asserting that whatever programmes had been announced by him after taking over as Chief Minister had been translated into actions by issuing notifications in this regard barring the rice scheme, he said 1.38 crore people were set to benefit from these programmes that would impose an additional burden of Rs. 4,500 crore on the State exchequer.
With respect to the scheme of providing 30 kg rice to every poor family at Re. 1 a kg , he said the scheme would require a total of 2.42 lakh tonnes of rice. While the Centre had been giving 1.70 lakh tonnes, the State had to organise about 70,000 tonnes for this scheme. He directed the officials concerned to take measures to provide BPL ration cards to all the eligible families at the earliest.
