Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government will begin distributing pensions from the social security and welfare fund for March from Wednesday. It will also start disbursing pensions for April from March 31, ahead of the Vishu festival.

The government made the decision to ensure that beneficiaries receive the pensions early in view of the festival. It had already issued orders and allocated the required funds in advance.

The Finance department issued two orders; one on March 2 and another on March 15 regarding the distribution of welfare pension. The order issued on March 2 said that the social security/welfare fund board pensions for the months of March, April and May shall be distributed in the respective months.

The Social Security Pension Limited was directed to take the required steps for the same. The department then modified this order on March 15, the same day that the Election Commission of India announced dates of assembly polls in four states, including Kerala and one union territory. The Model code of conduct also came into effect in the state following the declaration of dates. The order advancing payment of welfare pensions for the month of April was issued on Sunday.

As per this order, sanction was given to advance the pension distribution for April. The Social Security Pension Limited was directed to initiate steps to distribute pensions from March 31.

Around 62 lakh beneficiaries will receive a monthly pension of ₹2,000 each. Of these, 26.62 lakh beneficiaries will receive the amount directly in their bank accounts, while the remaining beneficiaries will get the pension at their homes through cooperative banks.

Authorities will distribute pensions for registered members through the respective welfare boards. The second Pinarayi Vijayan government has disbursed a total of ₹51,534 crore as welfare pensions so far. The LDF government has always prided itself on the disbursal of welfare pension, often recalling how the pension amount was increased over the period of 10 years, and a timely distribution system was put in place.

During the Nilambur bypoll held in 2025, a remark made by Congress leader K C Venugopal that the government enticed voters using pension as a bribe for votes sparked a major row with the LDF taking strong exception to the remark.

The government had then scheduled the distribution of welfare pension a day after the Nilambur bypoll.