Delhi Minister for Social Welfare Ravinder Indraj Singh on Saturday instructed officers to improve the process of adding new beneficiaries to the old age pension scheme.
In a review meeting held with Social Welfare Department officials, Singh has directed to start the process to add new beneficiaries into the pension scheme and also to resolve pending cases.
Currently, over 400,000 senior citizens in Delhi are benefiting from the old age pension scheme, supported by both the central and state governments.
The BJP and AAP had locked horns over old age pension. The BJP, while sitting in opposition, had alleged that the “corrupt AAP government was least bothered about public interest†and said it had no right to remain in power.
The party during the Assembly elections promised to increase pension amount, clear pendency of new applications and ensure release of money on a monthly basis.
The then AAP government had said that they have released pension amount of beneficiaries which was pending for a few months. The Delhi Minister held a review meeting with officials from the Department of Social Welfare regarding the old age pension Scheme.
In the meeting, officials provided updates on the progress of the pension scheme.
The Social Welfare Minister gave directions regarding the process of adding new beneficiaries to the scheme. He also issued instructions on resolving cases where pensions have been returned for some reason or where objections have been raised through applications.
The meeting also included discussions on third-party verification of beneficiaries and the role of Common Service Centres (CSCs).
The Minister directed that applications should be resolved in a timely manner, and applicants should not have to make repeated visits.
Bank accounts should be linked with the necessary documents to avoid any issues with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Officials were directed to continuously monitor the process and collect feedback from the pension beneficiaries.
