Amaravati: Pensions distributed to beneficiaries at doorstep

Amaravati: Village and Ward volunteers on Saturday carried out the exercise of distribution of pensions to beneficiaries at their doorstep. This brought smiles on the face of the beneficiaries.

Taking biometric equipment and data along with them, the volunteers reached out to the pensioners of all categories across the State to carry out the exercise and ensured that the pensions were transferred directly to the beneficiaries' bank accounts.

With the government machinery gearing up to help the old, sick and disabled, it was hailed as lending a helping hand to them. The beneficiaries did not experience the trouble of visiting the government offices for pensions.

Not only the Village and Ward volunteers, senior officials in the State government also took part in the exercise.

Gopala Krishna Dwivedi, Principal Secretary PR & RD, participated in pension disbursement programme at Jupudi village in Krishna district. District Collector Md Imtiaz visited a house of mentally challenged girl and gave the pension to her.

Speaking to the media, Dwivedi, said, "The Village and Ward volunteers are distributing the pension right at the doorstep of the beneficiary. Almost 4 lakh Volunteers are on this initiative today and within 5-6 hours, as many as 54.6 lakh beneficiaries are to get their pensions. This is the first time that any State in the country has taken up such initiative, where lakhs of beneficiaries are going to receive their pensions without any hassles. There are many more such initiatives by the State government which are going to be launched soon for the public."

On Saturday itself, about 54.64 lakh beneficiaries received their pension at their doorsteps through Village and Ward volunteers for which Rs 1,320.14 crore has been released by the State government. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy increased the pension benefit to Rs 2,250 from Rs 1,000 and further allocated Rs 15,675.20 crore for the year for the programme.

In Old Age Pension (OAP), Widow, Weavers, Toddy Tappers, Fishermen, Single Women, Traditional Cobblers and PLHIV (ART Pensions) categories, Rs 2,250 every month is being provided and for Disabled Pensions Rs 3,000 per month and CKDU/Dialysis Pensions Rs 5,000 to Rs.10,000 per month is being given. Also, the age for old age pensioners (OAP) has been reduced from 65 to 60 years. With the increase in the pensioners, the list of beneficiaries has gone up to 54.64 lakh this year.