Pension hiked, bill to go up by Rs600 crore
Two months after announcing a monthly increase of Rs 250 in the social security pension, the Punjab Government has now implemented its order with effect from July 1.
Benefiting over 20 lakh pensioners, including old-age, widow, destitute children and differently abled pensioners, the increase in the pension amount from Rs 500 per month to Rs 750 per month will annually put an additional burden of Rs 600 crore on the state exchequer.
A senior government functionary in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said as per the announcement made in the budget, around Rs 1,800 crore would go in the social security pensions against Rs 1,200 crore being spent by the state.
The SAD-BJP government had increased the pension from Rs 250 to Rs 500 from January 1, 2016. On the other hand, Haryana is paying Rs 1,600 per month as social security pension.
Prior to July, there has been delay in the payment of the pension as the government had decided to start direct transfer of pensions after thorough verification while withdrawing the system of disbursing pension through sarpanches and other appointees during the previous Akali government.
After reports of pensioners being harassed due to delay in the payment of pension, the government had released pension for three months — November and December, 2016, and January this year — in June. An amount of Rs 224.70 crore was released to clear the backlog.