UP CM transfers Rs 1,300 crore to over 86 lakh pensioners

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath transferred Rs 1,301.84 crore as pension to 86,71,181 beneficiaries on Thursday.
“Coming on the eve of the CM's 48th birthday, the help came as a return gift for beneficiaries under old age pension, nirashrit mahila pension, divyang pension, leprosy pension and those of the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan package,” said a state government spokesperson.
The CM also interacted with some of the beneficiaries through video conferencing.
In April, to help people tide over the Covid-19 lockdown, the government had released two month’s pension in advance amounting to Rs 871.48 crore, depositing it directly into their accounts. The total pension released by the government so far, including funds under the Central scheme, is Rs 2,173.32 crore.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, an amount of Rs 1,000 per beneficiary was released along with the monthly pension. The total disbursal included Rs 748.06 crore to 49,87,054 beneficiaries of old age pension, Rs 390.93 crore to 26,06,213 beneficiaries of nirashit mahila pension, Rs 160.17 crore to 10,67,786 beneficiaries of divyang pension and Rs 2.68 crore to 10,728 beneficiaries of leprosy pension.
While addressing beneficiaries after the funds were disbursed, the CM said that by transferring money directly into the accounts of beneficiaries helped in quick transfer of funds and also ensured that any avenue of corruption through physical transfer was stemmed. “Now one does not even need to go to banks to withdraw their money as newly appointed banking correspondents will visit pensioners and help them carry out banking transactions at their homes,” he said.
“During the interaction, pensioner Rajaram from Jalaun thanked the CM for organising a direct interaction with people. In a conversation with one Bamouri Devi, the CM told her that she had received Rs 1,000 under the Garib Kalyan package and Rs 500 as pension which would help her meet her household expenses. Krishna, a resident of Bahraich, informed the CM that along with the pension, he was also getting ration on time with which he was able to sustain his family,” said a government spokesperson.
He added that Ravi Kumar from Meerut, who works in a bulb factory, told the CM that he was very worried when all industrial work shut down during the lockdown but that he was paid his salary regularly during the period.