95% beneficiaries receive pension at their doorstep

‘Government has sanctioned 2,20,385 new pensions this month’

August 01, 2020 11:43 pm | Updated August 02, 2020 09:45 am IST - Vijayawada

VIJAYAWADA, Andhra Pradesh, 01-08-2020:
 Labourers busy in attending sowing operations for Kharif season as weather was cloudy and drizzling in many parts in the state for the last few days.  Photo: V Raju / The Hindu

VIJAYAWADA, Andhra Pradesh, 01-08-2020: Labourers busy in attending sowing operations for Kharif season as weather was cloudy and drizzling in many parts in the state for the last few days. Photo: V Raju / The Hindu

In all, 58.49 lakh beneficiaries in the State received their social security pension under the ‘ÝSR Pension Kanuka’ at their doorstep on Saturday.

Village / ward volunteers numbering 2.68 lakh started the exercise across the State at about 6 a.m. and disbursed pensions worth ₹1,398.68 crore. Nearly 50% of the disbursement was completed in the first two hours, and by 5 p.m., 95.44% of the beneficiaries received their pension.

Officials said that 58.49 lakh of the total 61.28 lakh beneficiaries received pension on the first day of the month. The government released ₹1,478 crore for the purpose.

The CEO of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, P. Raja Babu, said that due to the existing pandemic, the biometric process had been replaced with geo-tagging for the disbursement process.

Nearly 6,734 beneficiaries had opted for pension through portability and 1,458 pensions were put on hold as the beneficiaries had been stranded due to the lockdown. Another 1,52,095 beneficiaries, who were unable to collect their pension for various reasons for the last six months, would receive it this month.

Panchayat Raj Minister P. Ramachandra Reddy said the government had sanctioned 2,20,385 new pensions this month, and had allocated additional funds of ₹51.67 crore for the purpose.

Pension for artists

He said those who had applied for pension in July were identified and given pension cards within 10 days. The Minister said the beneficiaries who received a monthly pension of ₹2,000 from the Brahmin Corporation were brought under the ÝSR Pension Kanuka scheme from this month and were given a pension of ₹2,250. Similarly, artists who received pension from the Department of Culture in the past had also been brought under the scheme, he added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.