Delay in pensions puts beneficiaries in a fix

Kothagudem: Beneficiaries of Asara scheme are allegedly still waiting for their pension disbursal. The officials have not been disbursing pensions for the past two months, according to the pensioners.

The beneficiaries alleged that they were facing problems due non-disbursal of pensions in time in both Khammam and Kothagudem districts. Nearly Rs 80 crore was pending as the officials stopped disbursing pension amounts for the last two months in the district under the Asara scheme. Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts have a total of 2,70,000 beneficiaries entitled to get pensions under various schemes.

As per records, as many as 1,66,632 members are eligible for pensions under various schemes in Khammam district alone. In the district, there are 64,094 senior citizens, 23,297 physically handicapped, 59,186 widows, 7,626 single women, 883 handloom workers and 2,945 others who are beneficiaries of the scheme.

In Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, around 1,03,177 members are the eligible for pensions under the scheme. There are 38,871 senior citizens, 45,744 widows, 12,169 single women, 48 handloom workers, 136 toddy tappers and two beedi leaf workers and others eligible for pensions under the scheme.

The pensioners said they were going to the banks in their villages where they had accounts and verifying their accounts regularly, but the pensions were not being credited for the last two months. The concerned officers said due to insufficient funds for scheme, the officers are delaying distribution of pensions. A woman beneficiary Y Venkamma, a resident of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, speaking to The Hans India, said though she was going to the Mandal Development Office and related banks regularly for the pension, he had not been receiving the amount for the last two months.

The officials told her that pension amounts were not being released by the government, she added. She appealed to the government to immediately release pensions. Another beneficiary Mandakam Venkataiah, speaking to The Hans India, said, he was depending only on his pension, but for the last two months, he was not getting the amount and therefore he was facing many problems, he said. He had no money to purchase any medicine for the health, he said and urged the officers to provide the pending pension money immediately.