AIADMK uses pension as poll tool
Sets Target To Identify 5L Beneficiaries
Julie Mariappan & A Subburaj TNN
Chennai:09.11.2019
With local body polls around the corner, the ruling AIADMK is racing against time to identify old age beneficiaries for the government’s social security pension scheme. This comes in the wake of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami expressing displeasure at a party meeting on Wednesday that a mere 1.5 lakh applications were received during the CM’s special grievance redressal scheme, while the government had set a target of five lakh.
The revenue department issued an order last week to sanction old age pension to five lakh new eligible persons from current fiscal that would cost an additional ₹618 crore to the exchequer. “We are working hard given the limited time before notification of local body polls. We have spread the word to all local functionaries in the constituency to identify the eligible beneficiaries and sanction the pension,” said a senior AIADMK leader, who attended the party meeting. Until September this year, 29.64 lakh people avail monthly pensions under nine schemes, including 12.52 lakh old age pensioners. The Jayalalithaa government enhanced the pension for all categories from ₹500 to ₹1,000 from 2011.
The AIADMK functionaries said applications were pouring in. “We only recommend, and the officials oblige our requests. I received 30 applications today,” said a district secretary. Incidentally, the AIADMK government deleted some six lakh beneficiaries in 2015, when it had to do an annual verification, as per the guidelines of the Centre’s National Social Assistance Programme. In the wake of an uproar from the opposition in the state assembly, the government cited duplications, deaths, change of address and non-fulfilment of certain eligibility criteria as reasons. The Centre also sponsors partially the pension schemes for old age, widows and differentlyabled.
Elders above 60 years, destitute and those falling below poverty line are eligible to avail the pension, but many a time, the affluent get paid, it is alleged. The Coimbatore district administration had received 21,000 applications seeking old age pension in the recently held CM’s special grievance redressal programme in the district.
Lack of proper mechanism had people like C K Vijayalakshmi of Teachers Colony in Anupanadi in Madurai waiting for months to get her application moving in the district collectorate, while A Venkatesh of Ponnammapet in Salem could get it done for a relative, Neela, but not before paying a tout ₹4,000. The state should strictly implement the law for maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens that guarantees monthly allowance from children and legal heirs, and orders imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month for violations.
(With inputs from Padmini Sivarajah, V Senthil Kumaran)
Sets Target To Identify 5L Beneficiaries
Julie Mariappan & A Subburaj TNN
Chennai:09.11.2019
With local body polls around the corner, the ruling AIADMK is racing against time to identify old age beneficiaries for the government’s social security pension scheme. This comes in the wake of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami expressing displeasure at a party meeting on Wednesday that a mere 1.5 lakh applications were received during the CM’s special grievance redressal scheme, while the government had set a target of five lakh.
The revenue department issued an order last week to sanction old age pension to five lakh new eligible persons from current fiscal that would cost an additional ₹618 crore to the exchequer. “We are working hard given the limited time before notification of local body polls. We have spread the word to all local functionaries in the constituency to identify the eligible beneficiaries and sanction the pension,” said a senior AIADMK leader, who attended the party meeting. Until September this year, 29.64 lakh people avail monthly pensions under nine schemes, including 12.52 lakh old age pensioners. The Jayalalithaa government enhanced the pension for all categories from ₹500 to ₹1,000 from 2011.
The AIADMK functionaries said applications were pouring in. “We only recommend, and the officials oblige our requests. I received 30 applications today,” said a district secretary. Incidentally, the AIADMK government deleted some six lakh beneficiaries in 2015, when it had to do an annual verification, as per the guidelines of the Centre’s National Social Assistance Programme. In the wake of an uproar from the opposition in the state assembly, the government cited duplications, deaths, change of address and non-fulfilment of certain eligibility criteria as reasons. The Centre also sponsors partially the pension schemes for old age, widows and differentlyabled.
Elders above 60 years, destitute and those falling below poverty line are eligible to avail the pension, but many a time, the affluent get paid, it is alleged. The Coimbatore district administration had received 21,000 applications seeking old age pension in the recently held CM’s special grievance redressal programme in the district.
Lack of proper mechanism had people like C K Vijayalakshmi of Teachers Colony in Anupanadi in Madurai waiting for months to get her application moving in the district collectorate, while A Venkatesh of Ponnammapet in Salem could get it done for a relative, Neela, but not before paying a tout ₹4,000. The state should strictly implement the law for maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens that guarantees monthly allowance from children and legal heirs, and orders imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month for violations.
(With inputs from Padmini Sivarajah, V Senthil Kumaran)
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