East Singhbhum: Allocation for 3-month pension for elderly and widows received

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur: Good news has arrived for pensioners under the centrally sponsored social security pension scheme in East Singhbhum. On Saturday, the district administration received the allocated pension amount for elderly citizens and widows, ensuring timely disbursement for 67,135 beneficiaries of the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme. The recipients include 56,359 individuals from the old age scheme, 10,756 from the widow scheme and 721 from the disability pension scheme.

Currently, pension amounts have been allocated for a three-month period, covering until December. However, the pension dues have been pending for five months, with payments due since October. Last month, only one month’s worth of pension was allocated and now, elderly, widow and disabled pension holders can expect to receive their pension for September.

Despite the allocation for the three months, there remains dissatisfaction among pensioners, as payments for January and February are still pending. The pension is provided at a rate of one thousand rupees per month.

Unfortunately, the 721 beneficiaries of the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, also known as the Mukhyamantri Sarvajan Pension Yojana, are facing an even longer wait. The central government has yet to allocate funds for this category and no clear explanation has been provided for the delay in disbursing pensions to disabled pension holders.