Thiruvananthapuram: Welfare pension distribution has gone haywire in Kerala with the Centre deciding to distribute its share of welfare pensions on its own. Many of the beneficiaries who have already received the State Government’s share are still awaiting the Centre’s share even after Vishu.
Some have received only one month’s Centre’s share while they have got two months’ dues from the State. Some others have got the State’s share in full but nothing from the Centre. There are a few who have not received both too.
The Centre had stopped distributing welfare pensions for the aged, widows, and specially-abled individuals through the State Government from this month. Instead, the Centre had decided to pay its share directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Following this, the State Government handed over the database of the welfare pension beneficiaries to the Centre. It is based on this database that the Centre has started paying the Centre’s share of the pension to the beneficiaries' accounts. However, the Centre has not been able to implement the new system successfully.
There is no clarity as to whether those who have already got one month’s share from the Centre would get the pending dues for another month too. Authorities are not giving a clear response to the queries regarding this as of now.
The officials hint that as the Centre changed the system this month, the beneficiaries are likely to get only the pension from this month, without the earlier dues from the Centre. With this, chances to get the welfare pension dues of three months from the Centre are bleak.
The State Government is also to get Rs 460 crore from the Centre; that is the Centre’s share in the welfare pensions which has already been distributed by the State.
The State Government is distributing welfare pensions to a total of about 50 lakh individuals. Of these, the Centre provides a pension share to 4.7 lakh people. The Centre’s share is between the range of Rs 200 and Rs 500 crore.
