Govt spending Rs 87.7 crore on pensions every month: Kakani

Nellore: Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said the state government is spending Rs 87.70 crore per month for providing pensions to the people in the district.

Handing over the enhanced pensions to the elderly persons at Podalakur on Thursday, the minister said the government was incurring Rs 21,180 crore per month on pensions. So far, he said 3,03,472 persons have been given pensions in the district and sanctioned 12,332 new pensions.

In Sarvepalli constituency, 38,124 people are being given pensions while 1,423 people have been newly sanctioned and a total of Rs 11.05 crore is being spent every month in the form of pension to a total of 39,547 people, the Minister added.

The Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is credited with setting up a ward/village secretariat and volunteer system and providing welfare benefits to every eligible beneficiary following eligibility criteria, the Minister said.

Govardhan Reddy said 9,817 in Podalakur are being given pensions and 320 new pensions have been sanctioned and a total of Rs 2.84 crore is being spent every month to a total of 10,137 people.

Earlier, before 2019, 39 lakh people across the state were getting pensions spending Rs 4,800 crore a year at the rate of Rs 400 crore per month, the Minister said. Since January 1, this year, 64.06 lakh people across the state have been given pensions and Rs 21,180 crore is being spent every month, he explained.

Through the volunteer system, the pension is being distributed at the doorstep of the pensioner on the 1st of every month, the Minister said and added the chief minister is credited with sanctioning the highest number of pensions in the state like no other state in the country.