Chief Secretary instructed district collectors that the social security pensions should be distributed to 65,18,496 beneficiaries on 1 July.
Social security pensions. Representational Image. (iStock)
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to deploy village and ward secretariat staff to hand over the social security pensions — NTR Bharosa Pensions — to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps, dashing the hopes of village and ward volunteers who were hoping their services would be used for the work.
Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad instructed district collectors on Thursday, 27 June, that the village and ward secretariat staff should distribute social security pensions to 65,18,496 beneficiaries on 1 July.
He said each person would be allotted 50 houses of the beneficiaries and should commence handing over the pension amounts from 6 am on 1 July and continue the process till it is completed.
The state government is distributing ₹4,399.89 crore which includes revised pension for July and ₹3,000 in arrears for April, May and June at the rate of ₹1,000 per month.
The Chief Secretary said that if there were not enough staff members in the village secretariats and ward secretariats, employees in other departments could be assigned.
This effectively eliminates the role of the village and ward volunteers who were expecting that they would be deployed for the purpose
Of the 2.6 lakh volunteers, about 49,000 had resigned after the YSRCP said only those who resigned would be reinstated when Jagan Mohan Reddy comes to power after the elections.
All of them are left in the lurch as the TDP and not the YSRCP came to power.
Even the fate of those who have not resigned is uncertain as the new government has not said anything about what it intends to do with them.
It has made it clear that they would not be used to deliver benefits to the beneficiaries of the welfare schemes as it would make the village and ward secretariats’ role redundant.
Neerabh Kumar Prasad who held a video conference with the district collectors on Thursday asked them to withdraw cash from the banks on 29 June itself and keep it ready for distribution on 1 July by the staff of the village and ward secretariats.
The Chief Secretary said senior citizens and widows should get ₹4,000 per month from July.
“When the payment is made arrears of ₹1,000 per month for three months from April to June, totalling ₹3,000 should also be handed over along with ₹4,000,” he said.
The beneficiaries who come in category two — physically challenged (partial) — will get ₹6,000, those in the third category — physically challenged (total) — will get ₹15,000 and those who are listed in category IV — suffering from serious and chronic kidney ailments and thalassemia — will get ₹10,000.
The Chief Secretary said that the revised pensions and arrears should be paid at the doorstep of those state residents and it should be transferred to the bank accounts of non-residents.
In effect, they would have to deliver ₹4,369.82 crore to 64.75 lakh pensioners at their doorsteps and ₹30.05 crore to the bank accounts of 43,000 pensioners outside the state.
The Chief Secretary asked the collectors to complete the cluster-wise mapping of households by Friday evening.
He said the idea was that all the pensioners would get their pension on 1 July itself, and if some are left out for any reason, they should be covered the following day.
He asked the collectors to ensure the authentication of the identity of the beneficiaries with Aadhar, biometric, facial recognition or iris method.
The pensioners should be issued pension distribution certificates, he said.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
Jun 29, 2024
Jun 29, 2024
Jun 30, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
