SAD-BJP alliance forgets promise to double old-age pension to Rs 500

JALANDHAR: While neighbouring Haryana has increased the old age pension from Rs1,000 to Rs1,200, the Punjab government has even failed to hike it to Rs500 (from Rs250), as promised by the ruling SAD-BJP coalition in its manifesto during the 2012 Assembly elections.

"The next payment will be made of Rs 300. Only a gradual increase will be possible… Payments are only three months behind schedule, not six months (as claimed by suicide victim Somnath)." — Surjit Kumar Jyani, social security minister

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 19

While neighbouring Haryana has increased the old age pension from Rs1,000 to Rs1,200, the Punjab government has even failed to hike it to Rs500 (from Rs250), as promised by the ruling SAD-BJP coalition in its manifesto during the 2012 Assembly elections.

Minister for Social Security Surjit Kumar Jyani has said against Rs250, the next payment would be made of Rs300.

On the promised hike, he said, “Only a gradual increase will be possible.” The old age pensioners in Punjab have been getting Rs250 a month since April 2006.

Poverty-stricken Somnath of Dhilwan in Kapurthala had set himself ablaze yesterday over the non-disbursal of his Rs250 for the past six months. The government said the delay, though not of six months as alleged by the victim, could be due to the ongoing door-to-door verification of beneficiaries and linking of the scheme to Aadhar card.

So far, neither the district administration nor the Social Security department has ordered any inquiry into the incident. The deceased had even reportedly sounded off the SSP and the District Social Security Officer by issuing them memoranda claiming that “he could commit suicide in case he did not get his pension by April 16”.

On Somnath’s claim that he had last received his pension on September 9 last year, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner DS Mangat continues to maintain that the victim had drawn his last payment on January 12. He claimed the memoranda that Somnath had been carrying had perhaps not been received either by the police or the Social Security department.

Several District Social Security Officers posted across the state too confided that the victim’s claims could be right as there had been no disbursal of old age pension after September.

Jyani counters the charge: “Payments are only three months behind schedule… The department is updating the scheme to ensure timely disbursal. The process of disbursement will shift from sarpanches to banks... The staff has been doing a survey to eliminate ineligible beneficiaries.” A meeting of the officials of the Social Security Department has been scheduled in Chandigarh tomorrow to expedite the upgradation process and to ensure quick disbursal of the next installment, said Principal Secretary Jaspal Singh.