Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari seeks immediate allocation of social security pension funds
Raises problems of Industrial Area pending for over two decades in Lok Sabha
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari today expressed his “extreme dismay” over the non-allocation of funds for the social security pension in Chandigarh since October 2025 and raised the problems of the Industrial Area of Chandigarh that have been pending for over two decades.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Tewari reminded the House that Chandigarh, being a Union Territory directly under the Central Government, received annual allocations between Rs 6,500-Rs 6,900 crore in the Budget. “However, it is very unfortunate that since October 2025, there has been no allocation for the social security pension in Chandigarh,” he said.
Highlighting the plight of the vulnerable sections, Tewari said that old-age, widow and disability pensions had not been disbursed. “It is being said that there is no budget and the allocation will be made in May, when the funds will be available,” he added. The MP further noted that Chandigarh provided the lowest pension support at Rs 1,000, compared to Rs 1,500 in Punjab and Rs 3,500 in Haryana.
Tewari brought to the notice of the House that Chandigarh was home to a large number of ex-servicemen, who have served the country with great honour and valour, while safeguarding our frontiers, adding that, “But it is extremely unfortunate that in the Finance Bill 2026, paragraph 108, page 88, the income tax exemption on service element plus disability has been restricted to only those servicemen who have been invalidated out of service.”
Placing two specific demands before the Central Government, Tewari urged that the social security pension in Chandigarh should be allocated without any delay. “Secondly, when the Finance Bill is discussed in this House, the Finance Minister should fully restore the IT exemption on service element plus disability,” he demanded.
In reply to the question raised by Tewari in the Lok Sabha on problems of the industrial area, Minister of State for MSME Shobha Karandlaje said that the Industrial Area of Chandigarh was governed by architectural controls and zoning plans, under which the floor-area ratio (FAR) was initially fixed at 0.5, later increased to 0.6 and subsequently to 0.75 or 1, depending on plot sizes. However, the government acknowledged that the issue of higher FAR, especially in comparison with neighbouring industrial areas in Punjab and Haryana — where FAR norms range between 2.5 and 3.0 — has been repeatedly raised.
The minister said that the matter had been discussed in deregulation 1.0 and 2.0 committee meetings for Industrial Area, Phases I, II and III. In a fresh development, a committee was constituted by the Chandigarh Administration on January 23 under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer to revisit and amend building regulations to reduce land loss on industrial plots. The panel is also reviewing the augmentation of civic services by the municipal corporation as a prerequisite for any potential increase in FAR.
On the long-standing demand for conversion of industrial properties from leasehold to freehold and resolution of defective land titles, the ministry stated that these matters were governed by the Chandigarh Administration and the MHA. Significantly, it disclosed that a proposal sent by the Chandigarh Administration for conversion of industrial and commercial plots from leasehold to freehold has been examined by the MHA and not agreed to.
