Pension hiked for senior citizens, widows

NEW DELHI: Delhi Govt. on Friday decided to increase pensions to senior citizens, widows and people with disability by Rs 1,000 per month..

State Dy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the move was necessitated by rising inflation. As the decision comes just a few months before the municipal elections, it’s likely to give the opposition ammunition to target the government.

Disability pension has been raised from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 whereas pension for widows and destitute women has been raised from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 per month.

Senior citizens in the age group of 60-69 years will get Rs 2,000 as pension now against Rs 1,000, while those above 70 years will get Rs 2,500 compared to Rs 1,500 earlier.

A cabinet meeting, chaired by CM Arvind Kerjiwal, also agreed changes to the eligibility criteria. The income criteria will apply to only the new beneficiaries.

Approximately 1 lakh new applications will be received under old-age pension scheme within a month, for whom pension will be due from February 2017.

An added expenditure of Rs 154 crore is expected to be incurred on 5 lakh old-age pension beneficiaries for the remaining four months of 2016-17.

The revised budget estimate under old-age pension would be Rs 765 crore.