RANCHI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Jharkhand Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to the proposal for reducing the age limits for giving old age pensions to the tribals, dalit and women of all categories from 60 to 50 years.
The Cabinet meeting, headed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, approved as many as 25 proposals, including the upgrading 140 middle schools to high schools all over the state.
“In an important decision, all those women and people belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, who have attained 50 years of age, will now get old age pension under old age pension scheme of the state government,” said Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel.
Around 18 lakh women are estimated to benefit from the scheme and ₹22.2 crore has been approved for the scheme in the current fiscal, said Dadel.
According to CM Soren, Adivasi and Dalit do not get work at the age of 50, and hence, efforts are being made by his government to find out how to preserve and keep them safe.
Earlier on the completion of four years of his government, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced that the Adivasi and Dalit people would get old age pension at the age of 50 years and not at the age of 60 years. According to Soren, only 16 lakh people in the state had received pension benefits in 20 years since the formation of Jharkhand in 2000.
The number of beneficiaries has increased under the JMM-led government and it now provides pensions to 36 lakh people, the chief minister claimed.
In another important decision, approval was given to increase home loans given to government employees from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 60 lakh. This loan will be given at a 7.5 per cent interest rate. At the same time, the requirement of keeping the property as a mortgage against the loan will also be removed.
The Cabinet also gave its approval for giving relaxation of seven years to the candidates appearing for the Jharkhand Public Service Combined Civil Services Examination – 2023. The cutoff date for this examination has been fixed to August 1, 2017.