Pension hiked, but seven months’ bills pending

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, February 4

The state government’s move to release Rs 128 crore for the enhanced pension amount — from Rs 500 to Rs 750 per month — for old-age people, widows, destitute children and disabled persons is likely to backfire.

Reason: It released the pension amount for December 2017 without clearing the pending bills of the past seven months i.e. May to November.

Sources in the Social Welfare Department said the delay in releasing the pension amount of past seven months would increase the confusion.

“Now, the beneficiaries will throng our offices to know the status of the pension of past seven months. We are unaware of the reason behind not releasing the pension money of these months. Earlier, the pension of April 2017 was disbursed in mid-December. Now, January is also over but the pension amount released is of December. It is surprising to us,” said sources in the department.

The Congress after coming to power in the state had increased the pension amount from Rs 500 to Rs 750 per month from July onwards for all the welfare schemes run by the Social Welfare Department.

Speaking over the phone, Kavita Singh, Director, Social Welfare Department, said, “We had sent the pending pension bills too to the Finance Department. It, however, released the money for December. Thus, the Finance Department’s officers can only comment on it.”

Asked whether it will increase the confusion among the beneficiaries, she preferred not to give any reply.

Meanwhile, sources in the department said that they have now been asked to send the bills of November as well.

“If the state government is facing a financial crunch, then too it should have first disbursed the pension of the pending 3-4 months. It is a wrong move to first disburse the pension of December. When the beneficiaries, mostly illiterates, will come to know through the banks that the money of December has come into their accounts, they will raise a number of queries to us,” they claimed.