80% beneficiaries get pension at their doorstep on first day

Over 47 lakh beneficiaries received their pension, which included social welfare and medical related, at their doorstep on the first day of the month on Sunday, covering 80% of the targeted section.

This is in contrast to about 10 days taken in the past to disburse pension to the beneficiaries, that too covering only 35% on the first day of the month.

The government sanctioned ₹1,384 crore for the month of March towards disbursal of pension to about 60 lakh beneficiaries, a release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said.

Designated volunteers

The government had launched the new system in February this year, wherein designated volunteers disburse pension at the doorstep of the beneficiaries.

Fifty volunteers are tasked with catering to the needs of an equal number of households. These trained personnel use digital mapping, iris and face recognition tools to disburse pension. Special arrangements have been made to reach out to the beneficiaries residing in the areas where there is no proper communication network.

The volunteers disbursed pension to 26,20,673 beneficiaries by 8 a.m., and the figure touched 31 lakh by 9 a.m. By noon, 43.9 lakh beneficiaries received pension. By 2 p.m., 80% of the beneficiaries were covered.

The hurdles encountered in February were overcome this month, the release stated. The officials opened special cells in each district to monitor the exercise. Real-time data was used to address issues in the process. Those who did not receive pension last month due to some technical reasons were given two months pension now.

Criteria modified

“The government has modified the eligibility criteria under the YSR Pension Kanuka to ensure that the benefit reaches all the eligible persons across all sections of society,” the release said.

An amount of ₹2,250 is being provided under various categories, and the beneficiaries include old-age pensioners, widows, weavers, toddy-tappers, fishermen, single women, cobblers, and PLHIV (ART pensions).

Further, ₹3,000 is being provided to the eligible under Disabled Pension and ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 under CKDU/Dialysis Pension. Moreover, the minimum age limit to be eligible for the old-age pension has been reduced from 65 to 60 years.

With the increase in the number of pensioners, their total number has gone up to 60 lakh this year, which is nearly 10% of the estimated population of the State.