Disabled and old-age persons aghast over delay in Aasara pensions

Rangareddy: While the disabled and elderly people whose applications were approved under the Aasara scheme are yet to receive the pensions, the existing beneficiaries are expressing their dismay over the delay in releasing the pensions on time in the city and surrounding districts.

It is said that the Aasara pensions are getting delayed beyond the expected time, leading to several subsistence issues for the disabled, who chiefly depend on monthly medicines besides their day-to-day needs.

Bandi Narasimha, a disabled person from Rajendranagar, said, "Delay in releasing Aasara pensions became a common issue as every attempt to seek officials attention towards the sufferings of the disabled people failed to yield any result." “Last time we received the pension of August on October 4, while the pension for the month of September is yet to be released,” he said, adding that “Earlier, at least a date between 20 and 22 was fixed every month for the releasing of pensions. However, this was not the case now. There is no proper fixation of the date of releasing the pension, forcing us to keep shuttling between the houses to the concerned GHMC office to know the status.”

Syed Afroz, another disabled person, said, "The government order regarding the modalities of releasing the pension clearly said that the Aasara pension amount should be released between 1 and 5 of every month. Leave alone expecting an increment in the pension amount; the existing pensions are not being released on time."

While the existing beneficiaries are unhappy over inordinate delay in releasing the pensions, the fresh beneficiaries whose applications were approved over two years ago too are complaining of not getting the pensions despite approval.

“Following a due procedure, my application under the Aasra Old Age Pension was approved in the year 2022. However, the online status remains showing that the approval has been pending at the DRDO for over two years. The officials too are expressing their helplessness when approached for the redress of the issue,” said an old age applicant from Attapur.

When contacted, one of the senior officials helming the Aasara pension affairs at Collectorate Rangareddy said that the issue of delay in releasing the pension lies at the government level. We will be able to release the same only when the funds are released from the government.

When asked about the number of fresh applications seeking benefits under the Aasra scheme in Rangareddy district, the official said that there are nearly 10–12 thousand beneficiaries in Rangareddy district whose applications were approved for over two years ago but releasing of pensions are not yet done. The government is yet to take a decision regarding the release of pensions to the beneficiaries.