Special drive to identify pension beneficiaries

Amaravati: The AP government has been taking special measures to do justice to those who have not received a pension, after the introduction of the new system replacing the old one.

"A special drive would be conducted for a week to identify eligible persons for pension who were left out", said Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, in a statement on Friday.

He said MDOs and municipal commissioners would personally visit the houses of applicants who have been left out. After scrutiny, if the beneficiary is eligible for the pension, he or she would get two months pension in March including that of February, announced the Minister.

In all, 54.68 lakh beneficiaries identified as part of the Nava Sakam Survey. The minister said that volunteers personally disbursed pension of Rs 1320 crore at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries on February 1 which amounts to nearly 87% of the pension. Thereby the government created a record in the disbursal of pension.

A record number of 6.14 lakh new beneficiaries identified this month for pension as part of Nava Sakam survey in the state. The names of 4.80 lakh people who were ineligible were deleted. The minister said the government aimed at providing pension at a desirable level under YSR Pension Kanuka.

He said if any eligible person did not receive a pension, there was no need to panic. A comprehensive survey was being conducted on the eligibility criteria. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy gave the assurance that all those eligible would get the pension.

The minister said caste, religion, region and political affiliation had nothing to do with the selection criteria. Nearly 31,672 persons who were chronically ill were given a pension. They were given a pension varying from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. Moreover, the eligibility criteria were relaxed to include all those who were eligible and the permissible age was relaxed from 65 to 60 years.