Pensioners’ hardship

For the many senior citizens who came to the Collectorate on Monday to renew their pension, waiting in the queue proved to be a tough task. Many of them, who had arthritis and heart problems found it uncomfortable to wait in the queue for a long time.

Since the district treasury did not handle renewal of pensions last week as the officials were away on poll duty, senior citizens had gathered from 9 a.m. to complete the formalities for annual pension renewal.

“There are wooden benches for us to sit on only at one corner. On days when the queue is long, we are forced to sit on the concrete floor here and wait. They should introduce a token system, which will make us assess the time it will take for our turn to come, and provide chairs,” said A. Mariappan, a pensioner who has a history of cardiac problem.

Many like him were seen sitting on the concrete floor near the queue waiting for their turn to complete the necessary formalities.

The district treasury is responsible for disbursal of pension to more than 30,000 senior citizens in the district, and it has been handling annual renewal from April which will go on till June 30.

“It is not possible to have a token system since there is an extra rush and long queues only on Mondays. On an average, we handle close to 500 pensioners a day and have a maximum of 13 counters so that their work will get completed soon,” an official from the district administration stated.

While a few had been accompanied by family members who waited for them in the line, many others had to navigate the queue on their own. “There should be proper information on the documents to be carried before hand,” said woman who had accompanied her mother.