Delay in disbursing pensions for senior citizens, widows and differently-abled beneficiaries of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) social welfare schemes led to noisy scenes at a meeting of the House on Friday, with the Opposition demanding the pending payments be made immediately.
The SDMC is lagging behind on pension payments to its 80,000 beneficiaries, having not disbursed the monthly ₹1,000 per person for 18 months.
No shortage of funds
This is despite the fact that the BJP-led civic body has repeatedly said that it has no shortage of funds, unlike its counterparts in the north and east Delhi civic bodies.
The SDMC leaders have said the delays occurred on account of ongoing litigation and then a decision of the Centre making Aadhaar cards mandatory. The civic body is in the process of collecting the Aadhaar details and verifying them.
With elections slated for April, pensions became the hot topic in the House. The Congress stormed the well of the House, demanding that pending pensions for a period of one year be released within a week. Shouting slogans against the BJP, the Congress councillors forced Mayor Shyam Sharma to adjourn the meeting temporarily. When the meeting reconvened, the Mayor announced that pensions for 12 months would be disbursed within a week. This was not enough for the protesting Congress councillors, who wanted Mr. Sharma to announce a schedule for releasing the remaining eight months’ pensions.
Give pensions now: Cong
“We managed to force the BJP to make the announcement, which they were trying to avoid. It seems the BJP is stalling the payment of pensions,” Leader of the Opposition Farhad Suri said after the meeting.
Leaders and officials in the SDMC said that the BJP office-bearers did not want to complicate matters before the elections.
If the SDMC disburses pensions, voters in north and east Delhi can question the BJP as to why their civic bodies are unable to do so too, said a senior leader in the south corporation.
‘May take 15 days’
Meanwhile, the pensions for 12 months could take longer to disburse. Though he announced that pensions would be disbursed within a week in the House, the Mayor issued a statement later on Friday evening saying that the amount would be released within 15 days. Mr. Sharma said that the SDMC was aware of the “difficulties” being faced by pensioners and would come up with a plan to release the remaining pension soon.
