Assembly panel observes Centre’s share not received ‘since July’; BJP says order not issued by Delhi govt.
Assembly panel observes Centre’s share not received ‘since July’; BJP says order not issued by Delhi govt.
A day after a Delhi Assembly panel accused the Centre of “not releasing” its share of funds for senior citizens’ pension, the issue led to a political slugfest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, with both accusing each other for delay in disbursing the funds.
The AAP said the elderly started receiving their pension in their bank accounts from Saturday, which was stalled “since July”. “Several MLAs have confirmed that senior citizens in their constituencies have received senior citizen pensions on Saturday morning,” the AAP said in a statement. The BJP, however, alleged that the capital’s elderly had not received pension for “almost two years” and that only “one month of pension was given to a part of the beneficiaries” on October 22.
‘No payment in 18 months’
On Friday, the Delhi Assembly’s Petitions Committee, headed by AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, had directed Social Welfare Department officials to ensure disbursement of the delayed pension of senior citizens before Diwali. The panel also alleged that the Central government had not paid its share of funds for the last 18 months, adding that the Delhi government was “covering the entire expense” of the scheme. It also noted that the elderly in the national capital had not received any money in “since July” and called it a “criminal act”.
The panel made its observations on a plea filed by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj seeking action on the delay in payment of pension.
Responding to the committee’s remarks, the BJP said the AAP government was “playing a cruel joke” with the elderly persons.
BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor claimed that Mr. Bharadwaj had “announced that all senior citizens will be issued pension before Diwali”. “Mr. Bharadwaj created an atmosphere as if a government order had been issued. But no order was issued by [the] Social Welfare Department of [the] Delhi Government.”
The AAP, meanwhile, said, “Instead of apologising that [the] BJP-ruled Central Government has not paid its very meagrely contribution into these pensions for last one and a half year, the BJP spokesperson is indulging in mudslinging.”
The party also alleged that the BJP-ruled municipal corporations (now unified) “had not been paying pension to senior citizens for the last seven years”. “When the BJP-ruled corporations stopped paying the pensions, it was [the] Delhi government which came forward in the Delhi High Court and started paying those pensions too,” the AAP said.
‘Changes caused delay’
According to the committee, there are about 1.19 lakh elderly pensioners in Delhi who receive a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,500. Of this amount, the Centre is required to pay ₹150 to the elderly aged between 60 and 70 years, and ₹500 to people aged above 70 years.
During the hearing, the panel was informed by Social Welfare Department officials that some changes in the rules and regulations regarding the issuance of elderly pension had caused the delay. “Earlier, all the pensions were issued from the headquarters. There was a change in rule as per which the pension would be issued district wise and District Social Welfare Officer will oversee the process. However, it could not be implemented due to technical issues,” the officials told.
The committee had remarked that the officials “should have continued the old system of disbursing pension under the signature of the Director until the new system came into force”. “Pensioners did not receive the pension because the officers stopped the old system without bringing the new system. This is a criminal act and those responsible should be punished,” it said.
Mr. Tripathi said, “There was a delay in processing the file for issuing pension due to the old system. This is a criminal act. Taking cognizance of this, the committee will take strict action by fixing the responsibility of the concerned officials. We will not tolerate such insensitivity towards the elderly. The Secretary of the Department is directed to ascertain if there was an intentional delay to deprive the elderly of their pension.”
