Anantapur: Former MP and YSRCP Anantapur District President Ananta Venkatarami Reddy has strongly criticised the Chandrababu Naidu led coalition government for what he called “inhuman cuts” to social security and disability pensions, pushing lakhs of vulnerable citizens into despair. Addressing the media at the YSRCP district office, Reddy revealed that in the last 14 months, over 4.15 lakh old-age pensions have been removed across Andhra Pradesh. He further alleged that starting next month, nearly two lakh disability pensions would also be scrapped.

According to him, the government has arbitrarily conducted re-verification drives, reducing disability percentages in certificates to deliberately disqualify long-time beneficiaries.

He contrasted the current cuts with YSRCP’s governance record, recalling that under former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, pension coverage had expanded from 30 lakh to 66.34 lakh beneficiaries across 21 categories, including 8 lakh disabled persons.

In contrast, he said, the Chandrababu-led coalition has reduced pensions to 62.19 lakh, while refusing to sanction new ones.

Citing district-specific figures, Reddy stated that in Anantapur alone, 19,000 disabled persons have already lost their pensions, including 9,601 this month, while 2,314 were removed from the disability quota under what he called “flimsy pretexts.”

In Anantapur Municipal Corporation, over 1,000 pensioners have been served notices, he said, adding that one distressed beneficiary even attempted suicide outside the Collector’s office.

He also accused ruling TDP MLAs of lawlessness under Naidu’s protection, citing the recent indecent remarks by TDP MLA Daggubati Venkateswara Prasad against Jr. NTR’s mother.

“Naidu once staged protests over remarks against his wife, but today he remains silent when his MLAs insult women from his own family lineage,” Reddy charged.