Thiruvananthapuram: Amid public outcry, the state government has decided to disburse a part of the pending welfare pension instalments this week. The welfare pension distribution has come to a halt in the state for nearly four months. Though the government had settled pension dues of May and June during Onam in August, no further action was taken to give the pension for the months of July, August, September and October.
Now, the state government has decided to disburse a part of the pending welfare pension this week as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Ministers are set to begin a mass contact programme named 'Nava Kerala Sadassu' in each constituency from November 18. The Opposition had taken the government to task for celebrating the Keraleeyam programme by splurging crores of rupees when it had not been able to pay the pension.
Beneficiaries registered for the social security and welfare pension are entitled to a monthly payment of Rs 1,600. Hence, Rs 6,400 should be paid to each beneficiary while settling all dues of the pension. But it is learnt that the finance department has been making arrangements to disburse the dues for two months. Though the government had tried to raise Rs 2,000 crore from a consortium of cooperative banks, the attempt did not succeed. As per the revised borrowing limits, only Rs 52 crore is left for Kerala in the Reserve Bank of India. The effort of the authorities is to pay the pension by postponing other expenses for the time being.
Though the government has imposed restrictions on treasuries in passing bills above Rs 5 lakh, unofficial instructions have been given to encash bills of values only below Rs 1 lakh. The government has been trying to raise as much money as possible in this manner even as the release of funds to establishments under different government departments has been put on hold.
In August, the pension for two months was paid to 56.5 lakh beneficiaries. Though 7 lakh individuals were removed from the list of pensioners, the authorities are thinking of paying them too in order to avoid grievances. A list of those who have not submitted their Aadhaar number has been prepared and they have been asked to provide a copy of the document as soon as possible.
