Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed for an increase in the social security pension, under the YSR Pension Kanuka scheme, to Rs 2,750 from Rs 2,500 beginning January 1, 2023, with plans afoot to increase it to Rs 3,000 per month in the near future.
The distribution of increased pensions will be done within the first seven days, sources said. The Chief Minister will also take part in a pension distribution programme at Arts College in Rajahmundry of East Godavari district on January 3 and hand over increased pensions. Besides, the Chief Minister will also give away pension cards, rice cards, Aarogyasri cards and house cards to the newly selected beneficiaries from July to November 2022.
Deputy Chief Minister Boodi Mutyala Naidu, who is also the panchayat raj and rural development minister, said that as of December 1, there were 62,31,365 pension beneficiaries and that 2,31,989 new cards will be distributed on December 31 and January 1, 2023, taking the total beneficiaries to 64,06,240 in Andhra Pradesh.
He said that as per the manifesto, the pension will be gradually increased to Rs 3,000 per month.
Mutyala Naidu said that six months before the YSRC came to power, the TD government gave pensions only to 39 lakh beneficiaries, with an overall expenditure of Rs 400 crore, while the overall expenditure currently is Rs 1,765 crore.
He said that the government was giving pensions regardless of caste, religion, class or party biases, with no room for bribes as well. He said that there is no room for middlemen and brokers, to whom “grandparents and older sisters kneel” to get pensions.
Terming the pension hike a New Year gift, he said that the annual expenditure on pension is estimated at Rs 21,180 crore. He highlighted how Jagan Mohan Reddy has gradually increased the pensions, first to Rs 2,250, then Rs 2,500 in January 2022 and now to Rs 2,750, with a further hike to Rs 3,000 in the coming days.
He said that on the first day of each month, irrespective of whether it is a Sunday or a holiday, the Jagan government’s volunteers knock on each door, say good morning and provide pensions
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