Glitch blamed for Aasara pension delay

​Hyderabad: The State government on Tuesday put the blame over the delay in payment of Aasara pensions on technical hitch in distribution mechanism of post offices.

In his reply during question hour in Legislative Council on Tuesday, Minister for Panchayat Raj Jupalli Krishna Rao said the government, which increased the pension from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000, was making all efforts to ensure that the money reaches the beneficiaries on time.

He said delay was due to procedural problems experienced by the banks and post offices. He asserted that the government was releasing funds on time. “It’s because of distribution delay by post offices, which come under the purview of Central government,” he said.

The Minister claimed that the prior to demonetisation there was no problem in distribution of pensions. The issue was communicated to RBI in an attempt to find a solution. He also said lack of provision for banks in villages was also one of the reasons for delay for distribution of pensions.

Earlier all payments were through manual verification, but the government had brought the biometric system and it covered more than 3 lakh. The remaining 50,000 would also be brought under the purview by the end of the month.

Earlier raising the issue, Leader of Opposition Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that the payment of pension was delayed causing hardships to the senior citizens.

He demanded the government ensure that pensions reach the beneficiaries like monthly salaries in the beginning of the month. After listening to the Minister, Shabbir Ali expressed displeasure, as the Minister could not provide direct answer to the question.