Chandigarh, March 4 – Continuing the tradition of interacting directly with the people of the State, Haryana Chief Minister today interacted with the beneficiaries who have been newly added to the list of old age pension benefits.
Notably, time and again the Chief Minister has been directly interacting with various sections of society through the audio conference.
During the interaction, the beneficiaries thanked the Chief Minister for starting the automated pension system as this radical system has saved them from making several rounds of the government offices for getting their due benefits.
Addressing the beneficiaries, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the old age pension is the first scheme that has been linked with Parivar Pehchan Patra and it has been a very successful experiment. He said that during the last 6 months, 16,500 new beneficiaries have received pension automatically and today he is interacting with all such beneficiaries.
“We are leaving no stone unturned to link all the government schemes and services with PPP so as to ensure that the eligible person get their due benefits while sitting at home,” said the Chief Minister.
He said that the old age pension in Haryana was started with Rs. 100 but when they assumed power in 2014, the pension amount was Rs. 1000. Then the present State Government increased this allowance to Rs. 2500. Now this has been further increased from Rs. 2500 to Rs. 2,750 from April 1, 2023. The beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for increasing their pension.
More than Rs. 460 crore is given per month to 18.50 lakh senior citizens as pension benefits
Sh. Manohar Lal said that at present an amount of more than Rs. 460 crore is being provided per month to 18.50 pension beneficiaries. The State Government has increased the income eligibility limit for old age pension from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh annually in the budget of the financial year 2023-24. In future, the person who will complete 60 years of age and the joint income of husband and wife is less than Rs 3 lakh per annum, then their pension will start automatically. Consent will be taken from them if they wish to avail of the pension benefits or not, informed the Chief Minister.
A new scheme formulated for elderly living alone
The Chief Minister said that in the budget of the financial year 2023-24, he had announced a new Prahari scheme to ensure the well-being of the elderly above the age of 80 years. There are over 2.15 lakh persons above the age of 80 years in the State based on data in PPP, of which 3600 elders are living alone. Under this Prahari scheme, a personal visit, atleast once in a month by Government servants and volunteers would be done. Based on the personal visit, medical support or protection of property etc will be taken care of by the concerned department, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
He said that the under the Varishta Nagrik Sewa Ashram Scheme, elderly will be provided care in a Sewa Ashram where all facilities including healthcare for senior citizens will be available under one roof.
Sh. Manohar Lal called upon the old-age pension beneficiaries to come forward for social service by registering on the Samarpan portal as volunteers. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is our culture, so everyone should also worry about society along with taking care of our families, said the Chief Minister.
Human intervention is reduced by using Information Technology
The Chief Minister said that with the use of information technology, the present State Government has reduced human interference in government work, which is yielding good results.
He said that by increasing the scope of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the state government has started the CHIRAYU Haryana Yojana which has been linked with PPP. Now more than 29 lakh families are being covered under this scheme.
Further, the State Government has decided to extend the benefit of CHIRAYU-Ayushman Bharat to all families whose annual verified income in PPP upto Rs. 3 lakh. All such families will be asked to make a nominal contribution of Rs. 1500 per family per annum to get the insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister said that Nirogi Haryana Yojana has also been started, under which health checkups of every citizen will be done.
Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V Umashankar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. K. Makarand Pandurang, OSD to Chief Minister, Sh. Sudhansu Gautam and Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Sh. Bharat Bhushan Bharti also remained present on this occasion.