Names struck off beneficiary list, allege elderly pensioners

Around 8,000 beneficiaries removed from the list in the city alone, according to sources

Eighty-five-year old V. Annapoornamma is clueless as to why she has not been getting pension for the last two months.

A resident of Pipula Road here, Ms. Annapoornamma met with an accident and her leg was amputated two years ago. “I don’t know why my name has been deleted from the list. There was no intimation from the officials,” she said.

P. Lakshmi Prasanna of Ajithsingh Nagar, M. Biksha Naik, P. Parvati of Gollapalem gattu, and many others share similar experiences. These people had assembled at the CPI(M) office on Thursday and narrated their woes to the media, demanding that the government restore their pension immediately.

The beneficiaries used to receive old age, physically-challenged, widow and other pensions till recently. According to sources, about 8,000 beneficiaries were struck off the list in the city alone.

“It is learnt that the government is planning to withdraw about 70,000 white ration cards,” said CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao. “The YSR Congress, in the run-up to the Assembly elections, had promised that it would provide pensions to all eligible beneficiaries if voted to power. The YSRCP also promised that it would do away with one pension per family rule. On one hand, it is not implementing its promises, and on the other, it is also weeding out the names of eligible pensioners,” he alleged.

Mr. Babu Rao urged the State government to scrap the rule that those consuming 300 units of electricity per month will not be eligible for pension. “Is it a crime for the poor to consume electricity?” he asked.