68,000 pensioners in East Singhbhum deprived of payments for three months

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Dec 4: Around 68,000 beneficiaries in East Singhbhum district have not received their pension for the past three months, as the central government’s allocation has been unavailable since September. This has left pensioners of various central schemes, including the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, and Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, without their due payments.

The pensioners affected include 56,379 elderly individuals, 10,756 widows, and 721 disabled persons. While state government scheme beneficiaries, such as those receiving the Sarvajan Pension, have received their dues up until November, there is no payment for December. As a result, a demand has been raised for allocation from the central government to address this issue.

In addition, more than 32,000 women who were honored under the Chief Minister Maiya Samman Yojana in East Singhbhum are facing payment issues. These beneficiaries are also unable to receive their entitled funds, creating further frustration.

Neha Sanjana Khalkho, Assistant Director of the District Social Security Department, addressed the issue, stating that the department is gathering a list of all affected beneficiaries from banks. “We are investigating the situation to understand why payments are not reaching the beneficiaries’ accounts. Preliminary investigations suggest that errors in filling out bank account numbers or IFSC codes might be the cause,” she said.

Khalkho assured that once these problems are identified, they will be resolved on a case-by-case basis, thereby halting the long queues at local offices. “The state government has issued a notification to increase the pension amount from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 from December onwards, ensuring that beneficiaries will receive two and a half times the previous amount,” she added.

Despite the assurances, the beneficiaries, many of whom travel to Jamshedpur daily, continue to face inconvenience, with long queues at Block cum Zonal and Mango Zonal Offices, creating additional stress for the pensioners.