CHANDIGARH – It’s going to be a black Diwali for nearly 20 lakh persons surviving on dole from the government. Despite tall claims of no financial crunch, the state has not cleared dues of old-age pensioners, widows, physically disabled persons and dependent children. The last amount disbursed to them was in April while the state was in election mode.
A pension bill in respect of 19,96,139 beneficiaries was sent to the treasury by the Social Security and Development of Women and Children Department two months ago, but it was yet to be cleared. Another bill was sent in July, but nothing had been heard about that since then. The amount for May was 49.38 crore, June Rs 49.39 crore and that for July Rs 49.71 crore. The dues have further piled up for August and September.
The beneficiaries include 14,14801 old-age pensioners, 3,05,577 widows, 1.26 lakh dependent children and 1.5 lakh physically disabled persons. All of them are paid Rs 250 per month.
The writ of the Punjab and Haryana High Court does not seem to run in the state in this case. Despite orders to deposit pension amount on the first of every month, the government does not do so for months together.
