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.
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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.
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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.