Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh government will distribute pension worth Rs 4,399.89 crore door-to-door on July 1
VIJAYAWADA: The State government has made all arrangements for the disbursal of Rs 4,399.89 crore towards social security pensions (NTR Bharosa) to all the 65.18 lakh beneficiaries at their doorstep in a single day on July 1.
Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad said employees of village/ward secretariats will commence the distribution of pensions at 6 am. Each employee will be allocated 50 houses. Employees of other government departments will also be deputed for the purpose if needed.
Holding a video conference with all the District Collectors from the State Secretariat on Thursday, he said the enhanced pension amount of Rs 7,000 for beneficiaries under Category I (aged and widows, and 11 sub-categories) will be disbursed at their doorstep. The sum includes enhanced pension of Rs 4,000, along with three months arrears of Rs 1,000 each.
Similarly, for the partially disabled beneficiaries, who come under Category II, will be given the enhanced pension of Rs 6,000 from Rs 3,000. Permanently disabled beneficiaries under Category III will be given Rs 15,000, which has been enhanced from Rs 5,000. Beneficiaries under Category IV, who are suffering from chronic diseases like renal ailments and thalassemia, will get the enhanced pension of Rs 10,000 from Rs 5,000 per month, the Chief Secretary explained
Out of the total Rs 4,399.89 crore, a sum of Rs 4,369.82 crore will be disbursed to 64.75 lakh beneficiaries in cash at their doorstep directly. The remaining Rs 30.05 crore will be credited into the bank accounts of 43,000 beneficiaries residing outside the State under the Direct Benefit Transfer mode.
Directing the District Collectors to withdraw the money from banks on June 29 itself, the Chief Secretary said they should strive to complete the entire exercise on July 1 itself and issue the pension distribution certificates. If the distribution of pensions is not completed on July 1 due to any unavoidable reasons, it can be continued on July 2, he said.
The pension amount will be disbursed at the doorstep of beneficiaries through Biometric Authentication or IRIS Authentication of Aadhaar Based Face Authentication or Real Time Identification of Beneficiary System or Pensioner Facial Authentication. The Collectors should take all the precautionary measures to ensure the successful disbursal of pensions to all the beneficiaries in one day, the Chief Secretary said.
Special Chief Secretary (Housing, Village and Ward Secretariats) Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Shashi Bhushan Kumar, Secretaries (Finance) Saurabh Gaur and Satyanarayana, Director (Village, Ward Secretariats) Siva Prasad and other officials took part in the video conference.