Nearly 59 lakh beneficiaries get pension in AP on March 1

Amaravati: After reverifying and identifying the missing beneficiaries, the state government has distributed social security pension to 58.99 lakh poor people as part of the YSR Pension Kanuka programme on Sunday. When compared with the last month, this month newly added around 4 lakh beneficiaries, officials informed in a statement.

The office of Chief Minister informed that by the afternoon 47 lakh pensions were delivered by the volunteers at the ward and village Secretariats taking it to 80 percent. It was done by the volunteers to prove that there was no scope for corruption or prejudice.

The door-delivery of pensions by the volunteers started even before dawn and gained momentum as the day proceeded to see the dawning of a new lease of life into the several pensioners who were eagerly waiting for it.

This has brought to an end the long-waiting from the remote areas of the state by the senior citizens, especially old aged. It was a pleasant surprise for them as they were receiving the pension though it was a Sunday.

It was on February 1 that the programme was launched successfully and the problems faced then were eventually overcome this time with proper management and timely disbursal. The real-time data was made available and special cells established to monitor the whole process right from the grass-roots level by the ministers, MLAs, Collectors and finally the Chief Minister himself.

The pension has been increased from Rs 1000 earlier to Rs 10,000 as per the need. Leprosy patients are being given a pension of Rs 3,000. As part of the programme government targeted to spend Rs 1,384 crores.

There are 4.22 lakh pensioners in Kurnool, 3.42 lakh in Nellore, 4.92 lakh in Chittoor, 3.29 lakh in Kadapa, 4.71 lakh in West Godavari, 3.68 lakh in Srikakulam, 4.1 lakh in Prakasam, Rs 5 lakh in Anantapur, 4.8 lakh in Krishna, 4.51 in Visakhapatnam, 5.53 in Guntur and 6.41 lakh in East Godavari district, informed Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj department.