Welfare pension disbursal process begins in Andhra Pradesh

The process to disburse welfare pensions to 66 lakh beneficiaries across Andhra Pradesh began on Wednesday, according to officials. More than 25 lakh beneficiaries received their pensions today, Principal Secretary for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Sashibhushan Kumar said.

The process to disburse welfare pensions to 66 lakh beneficiaries across Andhra Pradesh began on Wednesday, according to officials. More than 25 lakh beneficiaries received their pensions today, Principal Secretary for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Sashibhushan Kumar said. ''District collectors have made all arrangements for the smooth distribution of pensions to all the pensioners from April 3 to 6, 2024,'' he said in an official statement.

There was a delay in the disbursal of pensions due to the Election Commission restricting the state government from engaging volunteers in the job in view of the Model Code of Conduct being in force for assembly and parliamentary elections in the state.

The ruling YSR Congress Party in the state and its rivals have accused each other for the hardships faced by pensioners. Kumar said that the state government has released an amount of Rs 1,952 crore for disbursing the pensions.

According to the principal secretary, 13,699 ward and village secretariats from a total of 14,994 have already begun the exercise of disbursing pensions.

Kumar said that district collectors have been directed to devise an action plan to ensure mandatory doorstep delivery of pensions to the extremely vulnerable categories of beneficiaries, according to the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)