NEW DELHI: With Delhi assembly polls drawing near, the Atishi government announced on Monday that 80,000 more people, aged 70 years and above, are now eligible for old-age pensions, bringing the total number of beneficiaries under the new scheme to 5.3 lakh.
The government said that the beneficiaries will receive a monthly amount of Rs 2,500, which AAP claimed to be the highest in the country.
An additional sum of Rs 500 will be provided to people from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and minority communities. Currently, the government provides Rs 2,000 as a monthly pension to senior citizens aged between 60 and 69 years.
Announcing the development, former CM Arvind Kejriwal said the number of beneficiaries grew from 3.32 lakh to 5.3 lakh since the scheme was launched first.
“When our government was formed in 2015, Delhi had 3,32,000 senior citizens receiving pensions. Over the past nine years, we added 1,25,000 more pensions, bringing the total to 4,50,000. With the addition of 80,000 pensions, nearly 5,30,000 senior citizens in Delhi will now benefit,” he said.
Eligible people can apply for the pension by filling out a form on the e-district portal of the Delhi government that went live on Sunday.
According to the government, the portal will remain functional until 80,000 applications are received or for a maximum period of three weeks, whichever is earlier.
“Within 24 hours, over 10,000 applications have already been received,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal noted that pensions had been a long-standing demand from senior citizens. “Wherever I went—be it padyatras or public interactions—elderly mothers and fathers would ask me to get their pensions restarted or help them apply for new ones,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal claimed the pension sum offered by the Delhi government was the highest in the country. He contrasted the amounts with other states, noting that Rajasthan offers Rs 1,150; Uttar Pradesh Rs 1,000; Gujarat Rs 700; Chhattisgarh Rs 650; Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Rs 600; Odisha Rs 300; and Assam and Goa Rs 500.