Speaker approves 1,446 new pension cases in Chamba

Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania chaired a District Welfare Committee meeting on Thursday evening and approved 1,446 new pension cases under various categories of the Social Security Pension Scheme.

He said that during the 2024-25 financial year, 56,161 eligible beneficiaries in Chamba district received pension to the tune of Rs 94.74 crore. For the ongoing financial year, Rs 51.02 crore has been approved for 56,678 pensioners from October 2025 to March 2026.

The new approved cases included 438 of the National Old Age Pension, 683 of Old Age Pension, 62 of National Widow Pension, 162 of Widow Pension and 104 of Disability Pension. An additional 336 pending cases under the scheme were also cleared.

Funds were sanctioned for other welfare programmes, including Rs 3 lakh under the Scholarship Scheme for Disabled Students, Rs 1 lakh for the Divyang Marriage Grant Scheme, Rs 14 lakh for the Inter-Caste Marriage Incentive Scheme, Rs 9 lakh under the National Family Assistance Scheme and Rs 50 lakh for the Swarn Jayanti Aashray Yojana.

Pathania said that 45,053 beneficiaries aged above 60 years were receiving pension in the district this year. He reiterated the state government’s commitment to the welfare of economically-weaker sections and directed officials concerned to ensure benefits reach the last person in society.

He urged the department concerned to conduct awareness campaigns in remote areas to improve participation and access to welfare schemes. The meeting reviewed progress under the Follow-Up Programme Scheme and the National Family Assistance Scheme.

Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Repaswal assured Pathania that the directions would be strictly complied with. District Welfare Officer Raj Bahadur conducted the proceedings of the meeting. MLAs Neeraj Nayar, Janak Raj, and DS Thakur attended the meeting.