The issue of delay in disbursing of welfare pensions led to ruckus at a meeting of the city Corporation council on Saturday. UDF councillor Leelamma Issac’s attempt to climb onto the Mayor’s podium led to pushing and shoving among councillors of rival parties, following which the council was dispersed. The UDF councillors went back to occupy their seats and continued raising slogans against the Mayor and the LDF.
The day started with UDF councillor Maheswaran Nair raising the issue of welfare pensions. He alleged that pensions of thousands of beneficiaries had been pending for several months because of the inefficiency of the ruling party. BJP councillor Ashok Kumar said that 16,000 beneficiaries had not got the pension though the pension amounts had been deposited by the State government in the common account, as their entries had not been made in the digital form.
Welfare Standing Committee Chairperson Palayam Rajan refuted these allegations and said that the Union and State governments’ insistence on disbursing pensions through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system led to the current situation.
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“Out of the total of 48,700 people who are being provided pensions by the Corporation, 32,000 have registered for pensions through DBT with their Aadhaar numbers. Among the rest, many are bedridden and hence do not have Aadhaar cards. The government should facilitate pension distribution through the money order system so that people do not miss out,” said Mr. Rajan.
Even as he was in the middle of making his statement, the Opposition councillors rushed to the council well and started shouting slogans. As the situation worsened, the Mayor declared all listed agenda as having passed and ended the meeting.