Pension delay sparks blame game among political parties in Andhra

Vijayawada: With May 13 elections nearing, the ruling YSR Congress Party and the TDP-BJP and Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance have mounted attack on each other with the delay in disbursal of social security pension becoming a hot topic for trading charges against each other following the restraint order issued by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on handing over the pension on April 1 as scheduled at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries.

Serpentine queues were seen at various ward/village secretariats to wait for their turn as the volunteers were prohibited from delivering the pension amount at the doorsteps of the people, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his campaign trail, blamed TDP aides for preventing volunteers from disbursing the pension at the doorsteps on the first of the month. The ECI issued the order on March 30 following a representation from Citizens for Democracy general secretary and former IAS officer Nimmagada Ramesh Kumar that the volunteers are being used to influence the voters.

The pension payment at various secretariats was advanced to 7 am from Thursday. Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Sashibhushan Kumar said the process for disbursement started to all 66 lakh pensioners. The government has released Rs 1952 crore towards this. He said 13,699 ward and village secretariats have started the process. On day one, 25 lakh beneficiaries received the pension. He said in view of summer, the government decided to start disbursement from 7 am from Thursday.

Refuting the propaganda by the YSRCP, TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu said they are only opposing the use of volunteers as agents of YSRCP and the wrong message being spread by the ruling party that the TDP-BJP and JSP combine is opposed to payment of pension to the old, widows and physically challenged. “There is no truth in such claims. Pension can be disbursed at the doorsteps as usual by the employees of the secretariats instead of engaging the volunteers,” he said.

TDP candidate from Nellore and former YSRCP MLA Kottamreddy Sridhar alleged that YSRCP leaders deliberately brought bed-ridden pensioners to the secretariats and forced them to wait for their turn on Wednesday to spread a wrong message to the voters that the TDP is responsible for their plight. He said the ECI did not pass any order to bring them to the secretariats. Special arrangements could have been made to pay pensions at their houses, he pointed out.

A few cases of death of pensioners due to long wait in scorching sun was also reported on Thursday. In one such case, the members of a bereaved family protested when a Minister called on them and blamed the Opposition TDP for the loss of life. “The YSRCP is stooping down to such a low level to gain cheap political mileage,” filmstar and JSP founder Pawan Kalyan alleged during his campaigning.

Meanwhile, TDP has decided to petition ECI to allow disbursal of pension by the secretariat staff at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries. Naidu went on record saying that instead of Rs 3,000, he will pay Rs 4,000 per month as pension to the beneficiaries if the TDP-led alliance is given a mandate to govern for five years.