THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Noting that the government has not yet taken a decision on continuing the Women's Security Pension, Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Monday said the scheme does not come under the social security pension scheme and assured that the latter would be disbursed without interruption.
Replying in the Assembly, the Chief Minister clarified that the Women's Security Pension is not part of the state's social security pension scheme. He said the programme was introduced by the previous government in February, just ahead of the Assembly elections.
Satheesan said the government order for the distribution of social security pensions would be issued on Tuesday, and the disbursal will begin on June 24.
He also informed that the process to raise the monthly social security pension to Rs 3000, a key promise under the UDF's Indira Guarantee, had been initiated. The beneficiary list would undergo a detailed verification to identify ineligible recipients while ensuring that no eligible beneficiary is left out, he said.
Referring to the verification process, the Chief Minister said an official had cited the case of a person in Los Angeles complaining that this month's pension had not been credited. Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan responded by asking whether it made sense to deny a mother pension benefits merely because her son lived abroad. Satheesan replied that the government's only concern was to ensure that no deserving beneficiary was denied the pension.
The Chief Minister also said the government would implement the Oommen Chandy Insurance Scheme, another UDF election promise, adding that detailed discussions were underway among the concerned departments. The scheme is being designed to provide insurance coverage of up to Rs 25 lakh per family.
He further said the Priyadarshini free bus travel scheme under the Indira Guarantee had been implemented within a month of the government assuming office. Rejecting allegations that ordinary buses had been converted into fast passenger services to deprive passengers of the benefit, Satheesan accused sections of social media of spreading misinformation and said he was placing his protest against the campaign on record in the Assembly.